Sametime

Sametime is a real-time collaboration platform developed by IBM, originally released as Lotus Sametime in the late 1990s. It provides enterprise instant messaging, presence awareness, and real-time collaboration tools to support business communication and teamwork.

The product comprises server-side components, client applications for desktop and mobile, and web-based interfaces. It offers presence and IM, multi-party audio and video conferencing, web conferencing with screen sharing, chat, and document collaboration. Sametime integrates with IBM Notes/Domino and later with other IBM collaboration products to enable contextual collaboration within email, calendars, and business apps.

Historically, Sametime evolved through several versions and branding changes as part of the Lotus and IBM portfolios, with emphasis on tight integration with the Notes/Domino platform and the broader IBM collaboration stack. It has supported on-premises deployments and, in some releases, cloud-based or hybrid configurations.

In practice, organizations use Sametime to reduce email reliance and speed decision-making by enabling presence and real-time communication across teams, locations, and devices. The product is designed for enterprise security, policy control, and administration via centralized consoles.