<p>IBM Sametime, the company's real time communications system is ready for a big update, and September 20 is the announced release date for what looks to be a more social Sametime version 9. IBM Offers Cloud Beta for Sametime</p><p>Back in June, IBM offered a cloud based beta version of Sametime 9, a company first. That means the company wanted to get all the bugs out before launch, but it also clearly wanted to build up some fanfare over the launch. Having a dedicated playground for customers to check out a new product is something IBM could be doing more of in the future as it tries to connect more deeply with customers.</p><p>Sametime is a conferencing app that includes video, multi party audio calls, mobile access, document and screen sharing, and presence. IBM is rolling out an updated interface for Sametime 9, and adding video presence. That means people can tell at a glance if someone is available for a video chat, a feature already widely available in other systems.Sametime Complete to Combine Communicate and Conference</p><p>Sametme Communicate is the IBM tool of choice for individual communications, and Conference is for multi party collaboration. Both will still be offered separately, but will also now be offered as Sametime Complete, a bundle that also offers a few extra features.</p><p><a href="http://www.cmswire.com/cms/social-business/ibm-sametime-9-release-date-is-september-20-022442.php">Keep reading...</a></p>