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:

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

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