AOL Provides Customized AIM Pro Service for Wall Street Source Customers

Business Wire, Nov 29, 2006

The New AIM Pro and Wall Street Source Product Will Be Added to Merrill Lynch's Institutional Electronic Trading Offering

DULLES, Va. -- AOL announced today that Wall Street Source, a provider of news and financial information to the Wall Street community, is now offering its customers a customized version of the AIM Pro service that combines the business communication features of the instant messaging service with the valuable financial news and information generated by Wall Street Source. In addition, Merrill Lynch, which has an equity stake in Wall Street Source, will add the combined AIM Pro and Wall Street Source product to its suite of electronic trading service offerings for institutional clients.

Launched in June, AIM[R] Pro is the feature-rich version of the popular AIM[R] service that provides at-work users with a streamlined AIM[R] Buddy List[R] feature, integration with Microsoft[R] Outlook[R], Web collaboration services, video conferencing as well as SSL encryption and automatic anti-virus file scanning for confidential business communications.

The customized AIM Pro for Wall Street Source includes an easy-to-use module that allows users to directly access Wall Street Source's content and applications designed for the equity markets. Through the Wall Street Source module, users have quick and easy access to the latest financial news, events, portfolio information and one-click access to Wall Street Source's popular Dashboard, a web-based platform that integrates multiple databases, news feeds, and applications in a user-friendly, one-stop-shopping toolbar.

"Wall Street is moving towards a virtual world of real-time news, instant messaging and electronic trading that can be folded into one seamless application," said John Albert, CEO of Wall Street Source. "By integrating our news and information platform with AIM Pro's communication and business tools, the client's desktop will become easier to navigate between content and communication."

"This customized version of AIM Pro will provide additional flexibility and offer streamlined workflow to Merrill Lynch's electronic trading customers," said Mike Stewart, head of global cash equities at Merrill Lynch. "Combining a communications tool like AIM Pro with Wall Street Source will differentiate Merrill Lynch as a key provider of institutional client communication services."

"It is our goal to deliver versions of the AIM client that are appropriate for our various audiences," stated Brian Curry, vice president of Business Services at AOL. "AIM Pro builds on the central role that the AIM service already plays in the financial community and through our relationship with Wall Street Source we are increasing the value of this service by delivering secure communications with real-time information that the users require on an daily basis."

The customized AIM Pro service also provides Wall Street Source customers with three new dedicated instant messaging (IM) interactive agents ("Bots") that allow quick access to Wall Street Source content. AIM Bots are dedicated, opt-in AIM[R] Screen Names that respond automatically to instant messages received and can maintain IM conversations with multiple users. The AIM Bots for Wall Street Source users include:

-- Wall Street Source AIM Pro Blasts enable a user to send a single instant message to multiple recipients. The user will be able to select multiple Buddies from the AIM Buddy List feature, enter a message, attach a Wall Street Source news item and send to the selected recipients.

-- Wall Street Source AIM Pro Alerts allow users to receive news alerts, stock quotes, and access the day's Wall Street headlines through IM. This opt-in service lets users specify what types of news and information they will receive and when they want to receive it.

-- Wall Street Source Interactive Bot will reply to users' incoming instant messages and send Wall Street Source news and information relevant to that message. For example, if a user IMs a stock ticker to the Interactive Bot, the bot will reply with the current and relevant information on the stock. Valid incoming messages may include, but are not limited to, stock tickers, Wall Street Source news types and full-text search strings.

The AIM Pro service seamlessly connects to the nearly 70 million users on the global AOL instant messaging network via the AOL[R], AIM, ICQ[R] and Apple[R] iChat[R] services. It also gives users easy access to enterprise IM (EIM) users via AOL's AIM[R] Clearinghouse service and federation agreements, including those using Microsoft Corporation's Live Communications Server and IBM / Lotus Sametime 7.5 as well as EIM systems from Jabber, Inc., Antepo, Inc., Parlano, Inc., MessageLabs Inc. and Markit, Inc.

About AOL

AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs the country's largest Internet access business, and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia. AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.