• Article

Group Chat Terminology and Concepts

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

  • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    Directory services program that stores information and settings of an organization in a central database. Group Chat Server synchronizes with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) to maintain current user information.
  • Chat History
    Feature that provides content history of logged chat rooms, including contextual chat history (messages from previous sessions still shown in the message area on logged chat rooms) and searchable history (messages no longer shown on logged chat rooms, but still available to search).
  • Chat Room Server
    Server that provides core functionality for Group Chat, except for file posting, which is managed through the Web Service.
  • Compliance
    Group Chat feature that, if configured, archives a comprehensive record of both logged and unlogged group chat activity. All data (group chat, files, stories, images, and other data) that is posted by a user can be recorded as events and archived. IM content is not archived, unless archiving is configured in Office Communications Server, in which case, it is archived by the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Archiving and CDR Server. The Archiving and CDR Server supports archiving instant messaging (IM) conversations and group conferences, and capturing usage information related to file transfers, audio/video (A/V) conversations, application sharing, remote assistance, meetings, and conferencing servers in call detail records (CDRs).
  • Compliance Repository
    Folder where copies of all files in the file repository are stored as part of the compliance system.
  • Compliance Adapters
    Feature that is configured to specify how compliance data is managed by Group Chat Server, including the folder where compliance output is retained, whether full user details are included in the output, and the window of time used to split output into multiple files.
  • Federated Group Chat
    Group Chat feature that enables members of different organizations to post and access group chat content in Group Chat rooms.
  • File Repository
    Root directory where uploaded Group Chat files are stored.
  • Group Chat Feature
    Feature that enables multiple members of a Group Chat room to post persistent Group Chat content for access by other members of the Group Chat room and to view Group Chat content posted by other members. The Group Chat feature requires deployment of Group Chat and Group Chat Server.
  • Group Chat
    The Group Chat client component that is used to post and access chat room content, including files, links, and text, as well as to exchange instant messages between two users.
  • Group Chat Rooms
    Topic-specific chat rooms (similar to discussion forums) for Group Chat sessions.
  • Group Chat Server
    Program that provides the server-side group chat components, including Chat Room Servers, Lookup Servers, database access, and optional Compliance Servers, and administration and configuration tools that are used to enable Group Chat users to post Group Chat content and share it with other users.
  • Instant Messaging (IM)
    Feature available in Group Chat, Office Communicator 2007 R2, and other software that enables two individual users to communicate with each other in real time. In Group Chat, IM content is not persistent— unlike Group Chat content in a group chat room, it is available only to the two participating clients during the session. Office Communications Server is responsible for all the IM in Group Chat.
  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
    The Microsoft product that provides enterprise-ready IM, presence, and conferencing in a single offering. Group Chat Server uses Office Communications Server as its IM backbone. It provides authentication, message delivery, and session management, as well as user presence and user ID information for instant messages. It also enables federated Group Chat conversations and is responsible for archiving all IM it processes, including Group Chat Server instant messages.
  • Persistence
    Group Chat feature that enables Group Chat content to be retained after the end of a Group Chat session and accessed on an ongoing basis.
  • Presence
    Real-time connection status information for users.
  • Server Pool
    A group that consists of multiple Lookup Servers and Chat Room Servers that supports communication and the sharing of data between servers, as well as the implementation of optional load balancing and failover.
  • Session
    The time period during which Group Chat is connected to the Group Chat Server.
  • SQL Server Database
    The database in Microsoft SQL Server database software that stores persistent data, including backchat, chat rooms, categories, and permissions.
  • Web Service
    The service that is used to post files to chat rooms. Internet Information Services (IIS) hosts the Web Service.