Yahoo Gets Message OutYahoo Gets Message Out

Yahoo Inc. last week revealed deals with WebEx Communications Inc. and BEA Systems Inc. that will expand its ability to provide business-oriented instant-messaging capabilities.

Yahoo will integrate WebEx's Web-conferencing technology with Yahoo Messenger Enterprise Edition to let users launch Web-conferencing sessions directly from Messenger. The deal is good for Internet app builder Jasper Design, whose employees often pass on collaboration because IM doesn't have enough features, and they're reluctant to learn to set up a WebEx meeting, says Ike DeLorenzo, director of technology. "Now we'll be able to move on from chatting and sharing URLs to doing things like document and application sharing," DeLorenzo says.

Yahoo's deal with BEA will give developers using WebLogic tools access to a development kit that will let them build compatibility with Yahoo corporate IM so the apps can push data to Yahoo users. People also will be able to use Yahoo corporate IM to reach into enterprise apps running on WebLogic.