What's old is new again - or as IBM likes to call it Sametime 8.5.2 IFR1
Category IBM Sametime
Great news, IBM today released IBM Sametime 8.5.2 IFR1, seriously what are they thinking with the name? I mean for one thing, this is the first release of Sametime now officially supported on Domino 8.5.3, and didn't IBM say they were going to sync release versions so it would be less confusing for customers (yeah I know, they did that for one release, then forgot they ever said it). Seriously though, people hear Interim Fix and they think bug fixes, they don't think a release with some major additional features.
UPDATE: So IBM just contacted me (through Facebook chat no less) So IFR does not mean Interim Fix Release it means Interim Feature Release, how I was confused I have no idea.
So what are the features to be found in Sametime 8.5.2 IFR1
New native client for Sametime for Apple iPhone and iPad mobile devices
Great news, a web app is adequate for many use cases, but native, installed apps are nice for a number of reasons, less network traffic, better background processing, ability to use other notification methods. Background notification of new messages, much better now on the iOS 5 devices with the notification center (Android folks always had a decent notification mechanism)
IBMs bone headed move for the mobile client? This "A dialer providing additional mobile telephony capabilities for licensed Sametime Unified Telephony users" Seriously IBM you are a few cans short of a six pack here. You have telephony partners that have TCSPI solutions, your other clients support TCSPI dialing, why not put it here? I have a concern that IBM is basically removing focus from TCSPI in a desperate attempt to make SUT the only option. IBM messed up big time with the launch of SUT and how they delivered it to the market, I think making some options only available via SUT is not going to solve it. I'm hoping this is actually a mistake, and someone that didn't know better wrote down SUT only and in fact TCSPI solutions (thnk Avaya, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent etc.) were just overlooked. Not the best way to show partners commitment to something in my opinion.
New Sametime browser-based meetings for the Apple iPad and Google Android tablets
Whilst this is a catchup feature to competitive web conferencing tools like WebEx and GoToMeeting, it was much needed. I am forever attending web meetings on my iPad, whilst I continue to use my regular desktop, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I look forward to Sametime catching up with the other capabilities of the likes of GoToMeeting by adding audio, video support etc. in the future.
So I titled this blog entry what's old is new again, why would I say that? Well a lot of the new features in Sametime 8.5.1 IFR1 meeting room aren't really new at all. They're just features that IBM removed in Sametime 8.5 and have now had the time to develop and add back in the WebSphere based meeting server, examples of these "new" features
A new Leave Meeting button for owners and participants.
An Active Speaker indicator in the meeting room will quickly and clearly let you know who is speaking.
This was a big omission in Sametime 8.5 It was a feature that many telephony integrated customers on Sametime 8 liked, and then found it removed in 8.5.x, Hearing IBMers now talk about how cool this feature is in 8.5.2 IFR1, makes you wonder if they ever knew it was there before?
So what is new?
Offline Messages
Personally I don't like this feature, well not the feature, but the idea, but I know many people that want it and like it in things like Yahoo and Skype. Personally I hate it. I don't want my IM client to become another inbox. This has been possible in Sametime for a long time, and the Sametime SDK has shipped with an example of how to do it since Sametime 2.0 (about 9 or years ago). I wait to see how this will be used/adopted by companies with Sametime.
Organizational tree view
I find it funny when IBM is promoting social computing and they add a feature like Organizational lookup. We all know why people look at organization charts don't we? To decide how important the person is they're talking to, can they be ignored? Do they report to someone important, are they important? Oh they're way down the org chart, I can ignore them. Not exactly promoting social is it? I think this feature will be most widely adopted in very large companies, where hierarchy is very important. Be sure to mention to you HR folks, that org data is going to have to be up to date.
If you're using your Sametime Entry license entitlement and you want some of these features, then please remember you need to purchase a Sametime license, none of these features are available to you as a Sametime Entry license.
So with all that said, this is still a release you should use/upgrade to. Whilst some of the features are old yet new again, the reason they're back is because they were good features that people used, and people complained about when they went away. With Sametime 8.5.2 finally adding Audio/Video that works in the real world, with the missing 8.0.x functionality now back in 8.5.2 IFR1 and the addition of native mobile meeting clients, Sametime customers can now finally look at 8.5.x, compare it to a feature table of 8.0.x. It took a few years, but now customers can see real additional functionality, this will help customers justify the additional hardware they now require, which for many customers had been a hard justification to make.
If that's what we get for an interim fix release, I can't wait to see what we get with the next major release, I'm expecting loads of features!
Great news, IBM today released IBM Sametime 8.5.2 IFR1, seriously what are they thinking with the name? I mean for one thing, this is the first release of Sametime now officially supported on Domino 8.5.3, and didn't IBM say they were going to sync release versions so it would be less confusing for customers (yeah I know, they did that for one release, then forgot they ever said it). Seriously though, people hear Interim Fix and they think bug fixes, they don't think a release with some major additional features.
UPDATE: So IBM just contacted me (through Facebook chat no less) So IFR does not mean Interim Fix Release it means Interim Feature Release, how I was confused I have no idea.
So what are the features to be found in Sametime 8.5.2 IFR1
New native client for Sametime for Apple iPhone and iPad mobile devices
Great news, a web app is adequate for many use cases, but native, installed apps are nice for a number of reasons, less network traffic, better background processing, ability to use other notification methods. Background notification of new messages, much better now on the iOS 5 devices with the notification center (Android folks always had a decent notification mechanism)
IBMs bone headed move for the mobile client? This "A dialer providing additional mobile telephony capabilities for licensed Sametime Unified Telephony users" Seriously IBM you are a few cans short of a six pack here. You have telephony partners that have TCSPI solutions, your other clients support TCSPI dialing, why not put it here? I have a concern that IBM is basically removing focus from TCSPI in a desperate attempt to make SUT the only option. IBM messed up big time with the launch of SUT and how they delivered it to the market, I think making some options only available via SUT is not going to solve it. I'm hoping this is actually a mistake, and someone that didn't know better wrote down SUT only and in fact TCSPI solutions (thnk Avaya, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent etc.) were just overlooked. Not the best way to show partners commitment to something in my opinion.
New Sametime browser-based meetings for the Apple iPad and Google Android tablets
Whilst this is a catchup feature to competitive web conferencing tools like WebEx and GoToMeeting, it was much needed. I am forever attending web meetings on my iPad, whilst I continue to use my regular desktop, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I look forward to Sametime catching up with the other capabilities of the likes of GoToMeeting by adding audio, video support etc. in the future.
So I titled this blog entry what's old is new again, why would I say that? Well a lot of the new features in Sametime 8.5.1 IFR1 meeting room aren't really new at all. They're just features that IBM removed in Sametime 8.5 and have now had the time to develop and add back in the WebSphere based meeting server, examples of these "new" features
A new Leave Meeting button for owners and participants.
An Active Speaker indicator in the meeting room will quickly and clearly let you know who is speaking.
This was a big omission in Sametime 8.5 It was a feature that many telephony integrated customers on Sametime 8 liked, and then found it removed in 8.5.x, Hearing IBMers now talk about how cool this feature is in 8.5.2 IFR1, makes you wonder if they ever knew it was there before?
So what is new?
Offline Messages
Personally I don't like this feature, well not the feature, but the idea, but I know many people that want it and like it in things like Yahoo and Skype. Personally I hate it. I don't want my IM client to become another inbox. This has been possible in Sametime for a long time, and the Sametime SDK has shipped with an example of how to do it since Sametime 2.0 (about 9 or years ago). I wait to see how this will be used/adopted by companies with Sametime.
Organizational tree view
I find it funny when IBM is promoting social computing and they add a feature like Organizational lookup. We all know why people look at organization charts don't we? To decide how important the person is they're talking to, can they be ignored? Do they report to someone important, are they important? Oh they're way down the org chart, I can ignore them. Not exactly promoting social is it? I think this feature will be most widely adopted in very large companies, where hierarchy is very important. Be sure to mention to you HR folks, that org data is going to have to be up to date.
If you're using your Sametime Entry license entitlement and you want some of these features, then please remember you need to purchase a Sametime license, none of these features are available to you as a Sametime Entry license.
So with all that said, this is still a release you should use/upgrade to. Whilst some of the features are old yet new again, the reason they're back is because they were good features that people used, and people complained about when they went away. With Sametime 8.5.2 finally adding Audio/Video that works in the real world, with the missing 8.0.x functionality now back in 8.5.2 IFR1 and the addition of native mobile meeting clients, Sametime customers can now finally look at 8.5.x, compare it to a feature table of 8.0.x. It took a few years, but now customers can see real additional functionality, this will help customers justify the additional hardware they now require, which for many customers had been a hard justification to make.
If that's what we get for an interim fix release, I can't wait to see what we get with the next major release, I'm expecting loads of features!
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Comments
HF, CHF, IFP, IFR, SPR, APR, MR, FP, CCH...I give up I can't remember any more...LOL
The should have one for Fix pack that broke other Fixes. FPTBOF. That's sounds better than regression.
Posted by Steve At 10:48:08 AM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Rob Ingram At 02:29:33 PM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl Tyler At 02:45:08 PM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
The wiki links end in 404.
Posted by Sascha At 04:39:27 PM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Jay At 07:51:08 PM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by John Del Pizzo At 11:18:44 PM On 11/22/2011 | - Website - |
{ Link }
Posted by Rob Ingram At 08:43:14 AM On 11/23/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl Tyler At 09:03:56 AM On 11/23/2011 | - Website - |