Creating Chat Rooms

Topic Last Modified: 2011-01-24

Before you create chat rooms in a category, make sure that the category has the appropriate scope and membership. If the membership on a category is correctly defined, new chat rooms in the category can inherit the membership, which simplifies management. For details about how to define scope and membership, see Managing Group Chat User Access.

Use the following procedure to create either a regular chat room or an auditorium chat room.

Note:
By default, the membership list of the category will serve as the initial membership list of the chat rooms created in that category. You can always add additional members to your chat room, as long as those users are in the scope in the category. However, if you want to create a chat room that starts with an empty membership list, select the Create a new membership list check box when you create the chat room.

Note:

By default, the membership list of the category will serve as the initial membership list of the chat rooms created in that category. You can always add additional members to your chat room, as long as those users are in the scope in the category. However, if you want to create a chat room that starts with an empty membership list, select the Create a new membership list check box when you create the chat room.

Caution:
We do not recommend creating more than 10,000 chat rooms in a single category. More than 10,000 chat rooms can result in slower performance in Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool.

To create a new chat room

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Lync Server 2010, and then click Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool.
In the Chat Rooms list, click the category in which you want to create the chat room.
On the File menu, click New, and then click Chat Room.
In each box under Chat Room Settings, you can click Inherit from Parent to keep the same setting as the parent category (shown under Parent Category Settings), or you can select a specific setting.
In the Name box, type a fully descriptive name for the new chat room. The name must begin with a letter, and it can include letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). If the chat room will be open to federated members, consider including the word “Public” in the name.
To prevent users from joining the chat room before it is ready for use, select the Disable this chat room check box. You can clear this check box when the channel is ready for use.
In the Description box, type a full description for the new chat room.

The following steps can be required or optional, depending on your requirements.
To enable all members of the chat room to post messages, in the Type box, click Normal.
If the chat room will be used only for making important announcements, to enable only members who are listed on the Presenters tab to post messages, click Auditorium. All other members can read messages but not post.
In the Topic box, type a short summary of the chat room’s subject. Users see this summary when they are in the chat room. It should be more concise than the description.
To have this chat room automatically inherit the membership list of its parent category, clear the Create a new membership list check box.
To create the chat room with no members, select the Create a new membership list check box.
To make the chat room visible to all users in the category’s scope, in the Visibility box, click Scoped. Or, to make the chat room visible only to its members, in the Visibility box, click Private.

To automatically send invitations to users who are added to the membership list of the chat room, in the Invitations box, click Yes.

Important:
If you click Yes, you should ensure that you also select the Disable this chat room check box until the chat room is ready for use. If you do not, the server immediately issues an invitation to join the chat room to all users who are on the membership list. This can have unintended consequences if a you create a new chat room with the default membership list, and then subsequently refine the membership list to a smaller group. Those users who were excluded will receive both an invitation and a notice that they have been restricted from participating.

Important:

If you click Yes, you should ensure that you also select the Disable this chat room check box until the chat room is ready for use. If you do not, the server immediately issues an invitation to join the chat room to all users who are on the membership list. This can have unintended consequences if a you create a new chat room with the default membership list, and then subsequently refine the membership list to a smaller group. Those users who were excluded will receive both an invitation and a notice that they have been restricted from participating.

To make the content of the chat room persist its Microsoft Lync 2010 Group Chat content, in the Chat history box, click Yes.
To allow members to post files with their chat messages, in the File uploads box, click Yes.
To allow category members to post only messages and URLs, in the File Uploads box, click No.