The service will be launched using Microsoft’s new standards-based (Session Initiation Protocol) software and service communications platform. These communications technologies, enable Reuters to offer financial institutions a fast, cost effective, encrypted, and firewall-compliant communications channel covering their own organisation and extending out to their customers and suppliers.

Today's Reuters.Net Messaging is seen a major step towards realising Reuters strategy of using internet technologies to build a suite of communication and collaboration tools for financial markets professionals. The Reuters.Net global directory will allow industry professionals to create networks of instantly available contacts and to conduct dynamic, text-based conversations.

The twenty five global financial institutions working with Reuters and Microsoft to develop Reuters.Net Messaging, include: ABN Amro, Citigroup, Salomon Smith Barney, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Deutsche Bank, DKB Information Systems, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HSBC, Societe Generale and Tokai International Securities. While financial institutions have depended on messaging for several years, Reuters believes many of the existing solutions do not meet all of their requirements. The move can be interpreted as a response to match and overtake the facilities of existing messaging services provided by the company's competitors, most notably Bloomberg.

Reuters plans to develop tailored solutions for individual clients using Microsoft’s standards-based platform technology. Development will focus on the ability to integrate with in-house systems and Reuters own services such as Reuters 3000 Xtra. The service will be available over the Internet and also via the Radianz financial services network for those customers requiring high-speed performance and additional security.

The Microsoft platform for this service will be based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard for enabling secure, reliable real-time collaboration between multiple PCs and other devices. SIP enables instant communications services supporting instant messaging, voice, video, and other collaborative resources – all of which can include the benefits of presence to give users more control over how others communicate with them.

Tom Glocer, Reuters chief executive designate, says: "Reuters.Net Messaging is at the heart of our strategy to develop next generation tools to facilitate collaboration within the global financial services community. By working with the latest standards-based technology from Microsoft, we will offer our customers a suite of communications tools for use within their firms and with external counterparties. In an industry where security, reliability and speed are paramount, Reuters.Net Messaging will deliver a genuine competitive edge."

"We're working with Reuters to bring a new, world-class real-time communications solution to the financial services industry," says Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "By combining Reuters knowledge of financial markets with the power of Microsoft's new technologies like the .NET enterprise servers, we will enable financial companies to provide more efficient and secure communication for their customers."