New Group Chat Feature

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.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat enables users to engage in persistent, ongoing IM conversations. Group Chat differs from group IM in that the latter is not persistent. After a group IM session has ended, its state is lost. With Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat, however, the conversation persists, along with all files, Web links, and other associated data. This persistence makes it possible to maintain complete records of each session. It enables the instant exchange of information across an organization and with external partners in a way that makes it possible to maintain a continuing flow of information among project members.

Group chat requires you to deploy three components that are new with Office Communications Server 2007 R2:

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server, which gives users access to Group Chat functionality.

• The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Administration Tool, which allows an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 administrator or delegate to manage chat rooms and users.

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat, a desktop client application that makes chat room conversations and features available to end users. It also enables users to send and receive IM, either in a chat room or singly with another user outside the chat room. If you want to make chat rooms available, you must install this component in addition to Office Communicator.

If archival of chat room content is required for compliance reasons, you can also install the optional Group Chat Compliance service.