Public Instant Messaging Connectivity
Communicate quickly and efficiently, and share presence and instant messaging (IM) with users of Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, AOL, Yahoo!, and Google Talk public IM service providers. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 provides organizations with the capability to connect their existing base of Office Communications Server-enabled users to the top public IM service providers.
Users can add contacts on Windows Live, AOL, Yahoo!, and Google Talk networks to their contact list. With the Office Communicator 2007 R2 client, users can share presence status information and participate in instant messaging with colleagues and customers who use public IM connections.
With Office Communications Server 2007 R2, IT administrators can control access to public IM connections on a per-user or per-group basis; select the public IM service providers to which users can connect; and log and archive messages that are sent to users of public IM services.
Supported Features
Add contacts on federated public IM services to Communicator contact list
View presence status of public IM users in your Contact list
Participate in one-on-one IM conversations with users of public IM services in your Contact list
Unsupported features: Multiparty IM, file transfers, audio/video sessions
Licensing Requirement
Licensing requirements for Public IM Connectivity depends on the service providers you want to connect with and your Communications Server client access licenses.
Windows Live and AOL: Customers with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Client Access License or Office Communications Server 2007/ Live Communications Server 2005 SP1 Standard CAL license with active Software Assurance (SA) qualify for federation with Windows Live Messenger and AOL without additional licensing requirements. Customers who do not meet the qualifying requirement should buy the Office Communications Server Public IM Connectivity license for federation with Windows Live Messenger and AOL.
Yahoo!: Federation with Yahoo! requires the Office Communications Server Public IM Connectivity (PIC) per user subscription license.
The Office Communications Server PIC license is sold separately on a per-user, per-month basis as a Microsoft service. PIC service licenses are available for Microsoft Volume License customers only.
Google Talk: Federation with Google Talk can be enabled through the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway, available at no additional licensing cost. This Gateway provides presence sharing and instant messaging (IM) with XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) networks like Google Talk.
Provisioning Requirements
To provision your Office Communications Server environment for federation with public IM service providers (Windows Live, AOL, Yahoo!), the following information is required:
If Public IM Connectivity licenses were purchased through Microsoft Volume Licensing, details on how to submit this information will be available through the Microsoft Volume Licensing website.
If you qualify for federation with Windows Live and AOL through Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard CAL, please contact your Account Manager for details on submitting information about provisioning your network.
For more information on the provisioning process, please read the Office Communications Server Public IM Connectivity Provisioning Guide.
For more information on the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway, please visit the download page.
