In grand opening today, another set of clues about Lotus Sametime has been public...

If you are interested in latest release of Lotus Sametime 8.5.x, you may know that it does not support A/V streaming on web-based meeting client. In addition, Sametime clients outside firewall cannot use media server's capabilities like voice and video chat.

Now, Lotus Sametime Next will enable browser-based audio/video streaming providing firewall-friendly broadcasting. Meeting client will be improved with moderation to provide more security.

Not done yet... The next version promises more enhancements...

Bandwidth management tools will provide automated management of audio and video quality to improve network efficiency. This is another important improvement because currently, we configure video quality and not able to change it on the way walking. With the new tool, you will be able to prioritize certain communication like board meetings, over others.

New integration possibilities will be available in the next version. Popular video conferencing suites like Polycom, Radvision, etc will be able to connect Sametime meetings with their A/V capabilities.

Finally, Lotus Sametime Next will also come with the polished mobile clients for Nokia, iPhone, Blackberry and tablets as well. Within the agenda, there are plans to develop a meeting client for Blackberry, native clients for mobile operating systems and improve telephony integration with mobile phones/desktop clients.

Sametime Next is expected to be available on the second half of 2011... It seems a bit late. But I hope it will worth waiting...