Get More From Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003

摘要

Microsoft introduced server-based Instant Messaging (IM) functionality when the company released the Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server IM service. Unfortunately, the Exchange 2000 IM platform didn't live up to anyone's expectations, least of all Microsoft's. The implementation used proprietary protocols, suffered from security problems that included transmitting data in clear text, and couldn't communicate with other vendors' client and server IM solutions. Given this history, Microsoft decided to start again by fixing some of these problems. After briefly considering embedding IM functionality into Windows Server 2003, Microsoft decided to create a new, separate product called Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003, formerly known as Real-Time Communications (RTC) Server and before that code-named Greenwich. Live Communications Server made its debut in mid-2003. Although it's better than its predecessor and one of the best IM solutions available today, Microsoft will need to improve Live Communications Server before the product becomes the enterprise IM solution. But several third-party vendors now offer products to make up for Live Communication Server's shortcomings and help you get the most from the product. See Table 1, page 50, for a list of add-ons for live Communications Server. Let's review Live Communications Server's current feature set, how you can complement those features with third-party products, and the changes that are likely to happen to Live Communications Server in the future.