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Microsoft Office Communicator
	Screenshot ; Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 in Windows Vista
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Stable release	2007 R2
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Type	Instant Messaging client
License	Proprietary EULA
Website	Office Communicator Home Page - Microsoft Office Online

Microsoft Office Communicator is a instant messaging client used with Microsoft Office Communications Server and is the replacement for Windows Messenger which was used with Exchange Messaging Server. Compared to Windows Live Messenger (previously known as MSN Messenger) it has an expanded feature set that is targeted toward corporate (enterprise) environments.

[edit] Features

Basic features include instant messaging, Voice Over IP, and Video Conferencing inside the client software. Advanced features are related to integration with other Microsoft software:

Availability of contacts is based on Microsoft Outlook calendars stored in a Microsoft Exchange Server
Contact lists can be retrieved from a local directory service, like Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Office can show if other people are working on the same document^[1]
All communication between the clients is done through a Microsoft Office Communications Server local server. This makes communications more secure, as messages do not need to leave the corporate intranet, unlike with the internet based Windows Live Messenger. The server can be set to relay messages to other instant messaging networks, avoiding installation of extra software at the client side.
A number of client types are available in the Office Communicator 2007 R2 Edition, including a mobile client.
Uses SIP as the basis for its for client communication protocol^[2]
Offers support for TLS and SRTP to encrypt and secure signaling and media traffic.
Offers desktop sharing with contacts.

[edit] Extensions

Office Communicator uses a number of extensions to the SIP/SIMPLE instant messaging protocol for some features. As is the case with most instant messaging platforms, non-Microsoft instant messaging clients^[3] that have not implemented these publicly available extensions^[2] may not work correctly or have complete functionality. Specifically, Office Communicator requires the format of DOMAIN\username for the username. Standard SIP/SIMPLE implementations do not allow the use of the backslash character, "\".^[4] Office Communicator does offer solutions that allow for federated presence and IM to other popular instant message services such as AOL, Yahoo, MSN, and XMPP messengers. A limited web client is offered with Microsoft Office Communications Server as an alternative.

It should be noted that although other IM protocols such as AIM and Yahoo! do have wider support by third-party clients, these protocols have been largely reverse engineered by outside developers. Microsoft does offer details of its extensions on MSDN and provides an API kit to help developers build platforms that can interoperate with Office Communications Server 2007.

[edit] History

The current version is Office Communicator 2007 R2. The previous version, "Office Communicator 2007" was released to manufacturing on 28 July, 2007^[5] and launched in October 2007. Office Communicator 2007 is an Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA) product. The full featured desktop version of the client requires Windows Vista 32bit, Windows XP with SP2, or Windows 2000 with SP4 as the host operating system.

Office Communicator was launched in Q2 2005 as Office Communicator 2005, and was code-named Istanbul before public release.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

IBM Lotus Sametime product home page - Similar offering from Lotus

[edit] External links

Microsoft portal

Office Communicator Home Page - Microsoft Office Online
A presentation from Microsoft about Office Communicator
Ferris Research assessment of platform
Innovative Communications Alliance (Nortel – Microsoft)
Plugin to use MirandaIM on Office Communicator Server
Evaluation Version of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 / Office Communicator 2007
Alternative freeware sip client to Office Communicator
Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 compatible desktop phones from snom technology AG[1]
The SIPE Project: A plug-in for the Pidgin open-source instant messaging client to have it talk to LCS servers.

[0] "Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 product overview". Microsoft Office. Microsoft. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA102037151033.aspx. Retrieved 2007-10-10.

[msdn307432-1] "Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Protocol Documents". MSDN. Microsoft. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc307432.aspx. Retrieved 2008-08-15.

[2] "Pidgin project trouble ticket describing problems with Microsoft's SIP/Simple Implementation". Pidgin. http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/48. Retrieved 2008-05-15.

[3] "Adium Ticket #1541 New Enhancement". Adium. http://trac.adiumx.com/ticket/1541.

[4] Office Communicator Team blog: RTM news

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