Microsoft Office Live Communications Server

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Microsoft Office Live Communications Server is described by Microsoft as an enterprise real-time communications server, providing instant messaging and collaboration functionality.

In use, Live Communications Server appears identical to Windows Messenger, as it uses the Windows Messenger software as its client. However, while Windows Messenger still can be used, it has now been replaced by Microsoft Office Communicator as the recommended client. With this new client, it is possible to extend the abilities of Live Communications Server to include integration with many corporate telephone systems, and with the Microsoft Office suite.

The principal use of Live Communications Server is instant messaging within a single network, including presence information, application sharing, file transfer and voice and video communication. (These latter features are often not possible even within a single network using public IM clients, due to the effects of negotiating the corporate firewall and Network Address Translation). However, Live Communications Server 2005 now includes the ability - "federation" - to interoperate with other corporate IM networks, either those specified, or any network listing the appropriate SRV records in the DNS.

Microsoft Office Live Communications Server uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to communicate between server and client. On the server side, Live Communications Server offers the ability to encrypt IM traffic, and to log and archive all message traffic passing through the server, increasingly a legal requirement for many companies.

Finally, in the recent Service Pack 1 for Live Communications Server 2005, Microsoft have added the ability for LCS installations to interoperate with the MSN, AOL and Yahoo! IM networks.

1 Versions for Windows
2 Licensing
3 Competition
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Versions for Windows

2005 - Office Live Communications Server 2005
2003 - Live Communications Server 2003

[edit] Licensing

Microsoft Office Live Communications Server is licensed in the usual manner for Microsoft software; a single license is purchased for the server, which includes a number of Client Access Licenses. Each user or device accessing the server then requires a Client Access License (CAL), either part of that initial number or purchased separately.

In the case of Live Communications Server, this picture is complicated by the existence of:

Telephony CALs, required for users or devices which use the telephony PBX integration for call control or teleconferencing.
the External Connector License, which is required if you wish external users to access your Live Communications Server (such as a partner or retired employee who no longer works for your company) - one per server handling external traffic. Note that federation to remote systems is not covered by the External Connector License, but rather through individual agreements with other companies (no additional license needed) or through the Public IM Connectivity Service for access to the MSN, AOL, or Yahoo! networks.
and the Public IM Connectivity Service - a per-user per-month service agreement permitting access to the MSN, AOL and Yahoo! instant messaging networks.

Any and all of these may be purchased separately.

(When Microsoft Office Live Communications Server was originally launched on 29 December 2003, it replaced the Exchange Instant Messenger Service that had been included in Exchange 2000, but which was removed from the Exchange 2003 feature set. Thus, holders of Exchange 2000 licenses which include Software Assurance are entitled to receive Live Communications Server as an upgrade, along with Exchange 2003; however, Live Communications Server Client Access Licenses must be purchased as normal for new users.)

[edit] Competition

The only large scale competition is IBM's Sametime component of its Lotus Notes platform, and of course the public instant messaging networks. There have been attempts by other vendors at providing solutions such as Yahoo!'s Enterprise Instant Messenger; however these attempts have been largely unsuccessful. There once existed an ICQ corporative client and server, but it is no longer supported or developed.