Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7, the communications client for Macintosh, introduces a range of new features. These include real-time audio calls, video calls, and new presence status to improve the way users find and connect with their coworkers.
This topic describes some new features in Messenger for Mac 7 corporate accounts.
 | Improved presence management |
Messenger for Mac 7 introduces new presence states to more accurately reflect a person's ability and willingness to communicate. For example, a user can manually set the presence status to Do Not Disturb. Also, Messenger for Mac 7 exposes a personal message display on the Corporate Contacts list window. Users can create a personal message to add more presence information, such as "In meetings until 4:00."
Messenger for Mac 7 offers the following new presence and presence-management features:
New presence states and presence icons Messenger for Mac 7 introduces new presence icons to accurately reflect the presence status. The presence types include more specific states, including In a Meeting and In a Call.
Interruption management A user can manually set his or her presence status to Do Not Disturb. When a user's presence is set to Do Not Disturb, all incoming messages are blocked unless the user starts the conversation.
A user can also set Privacy options to allow or block other users from seeing the presence status and sending messages to him or her.
Users can manually set many presence states in Messenger for Mac 7. Other presence states are set automatically based on the current computer state, calendar state, or activity state. For example, if the contact is in a multiparty conference, the presence state for this contact changes automatically to In a Conference.
Presence status | Description |
|---|---|
Available | The contact is online and can participate in conversations. Users can set this presence status. |
Busy | The contact is available but engaged in another activity. Users can set this presence status. |
In a Call | The contact is in an audio or video conversation. This presence state is set automatically during a computer-to-computer call. |
In a Conference | The contact is in a multiparty audio or video conversation. This presence state is set automatically during a multiparty conference call. |
In a Meeting | The contact is in a scheduled meeting. This presence status is available only for Microsoft Office Outlook and Office Communicator 2007 users and is published automatically. |
Do Not Disturb | The contact manually set this status to block other contacts from starting a conversation with him or her. The status also automatically changes to Do Not Disturb when the contact runs another application, such as a PowerPoint slide show, in full-screen mode. |
Be Right Back | The contact manually set this status to indicate that he or she is away from the computer and cannot communicate. |
Away | The contact manually set this status to indicate that he or she is away from the computer and cannot communicate. This presence state can be set either from the Preferences dialog box or from the status button next to the user name. |
Out of Office | The contact’s Out of Office Assistant indicates that he or she is out of the office. This presence status is available only for Outlook and Office Communicator 2007 users and is published automatically based on the user's Outlook calendar. Also, the contact must remain signed into Office Communicator 2007 for the presence status to display in Messenger. |
Offline | The contact is not available. Messenger displays this status when the contact is unavailable for one of the following reasons:
|
Presence Unknown | No presence status is available for this user. |
Blocked | The contact set this status to block specific users from communicating with him or her. |
| Improved presence integration with Office Communicator |
Messenger for Mac 7 improves presence integration with Office Communications Server 2007. The presence states available in Messenger directly align with the presence states in Office Communicator 2007.
| Audio and video calling |
Corporate messaging takes a big step forward with integrated audio and video calling. Corporate users can make computer-to-computer audio and video calls. Users can also conduct conference calls by inviting multiple contacts to join the conversation. By using the audio and video calling features of Messenger, users see and hear the contacts whom they are interacting with. This provides an experience that resembles meeting in person.
Messenger for Mac 7 does not provide computer-to-phone integration. Therefore, to use audio calling, all participants must have a microphone and either speakers or headphones. Either the computer's built-in microphone or a purchased Macintosh-compatible microphone works with Messenger for Mac 7. To learn about how to set up these devices, see Mac OS Help. For a sample list of supported devices, see System requirements for Messenger for Mac 7
A user can make any of the following types of audio or video calls:
Start audio and video conversations from the conversation window with a contact in the corporate network.
Call a contact who is using either Messenger for Mac 7 or Office Communicator 2007.
Call from a corporate account to a federatedTwo or more organizations that are linked by using Office Communications Server 2007. After you add a federated contact to your Contact List, you can communicate with the contact by using any communication mode that is available in both organizations. network if both networks allow audio and video calls.
Call multiple participants. Participants who are invited to join the audio or video conference can leave the session at any time.
Note From corporate accounts, users cannot make audio and video calls to their contacts who use public e-mail services, such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) or Yahoo! Messenger. From a personal accountAn account on the Windows Live network, including all e-mail addresses ending in "@live.com", "@msn.com", and "@hotmail.com". With a personal account you can communicate with other contacts on the Windows Live and Yahoo networks., users cannot make audio or video calls at all.
| Global address list search |
By using the search field, users can look up contacts in the corporate address book, also known as the global address list (GAL), and in their contact lists and easily add new contacts to their contact lists. The search results also display the contact’s presence information.
To look up a contact, the user can type different elements in the search field, such as first name, last name, e-mail address, or alias. The search starts when the user types a single character. Searches are iterative. Search results are refined after the user types more than one character and either stops typing for 500 msec (a half second) or presses RETURN.
Users can search the GAL and perform any of the following actions:
See presence for GAL contacts who are not necessarily in the Messenger contact list.
Start an instant message conversation or an audio/video call with GAL contacts who are not necessarily in the Messenger contact list.
Easily add contacts from the search result lists.
Search for a contact by name, and when Messenger finds the correct contact, press RETURN to start an instant message session.
The searches are performed across the following lists:
Messenger contact list
GAL (The client should have access to the GAL.)
Search results are displayed in the following order:
A result from the Messenger contact list when the alias or e-mail of a contact is matched exactly. The search result is listed by display name.
All results from the GAL, sorted alphabetically by display name.
| Detecting subnet users by using Bonjour |
Bonjour, Apple’s implementation of the Zero Configuration Networking standard, is used to locate shared services in the local network. Messenger for Mac 7 uses Bonjour to broadcast and receive information about users in the same local subnet. This enables users to detect other Messenger users in the same local subnet, see their presence, and start communication with them. This networking technology is also available for personal accounts.
