About Instant Messaging

Sun Java System Instant Messaging 7 enables secure, real-time communication and collaboration. Instant Messaging combines presence awareness with instant messaging capabilities such as chat, conferences, alerts, news, polls, and file transfers to create a rich collaborative environment. These features enable one-to-one as well as group collaboration through either short-lived communications or persistent venues such as conference rooms or news channels. Instant Messaging, along with Calendar Server and Messaging Server, offers users a comprehensive communications and collaboration environment.

Instant Messaging ensures the integrity of communications through its multiple authentication mechanisms and secure SSL connections. Integration with Sun Java^TM System Portal Server 6 and Sun Java^TM System Access Manager 6 brings additional security features, services-based provisioning access policy, user management, and secure remote access. Furthermore, Instant Messaging supports the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). XMPP enables you to use a number of third-party clients, which aggregate contacts from the public networks. In one client, you can have contacts from AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Sun, and other XMPP-based servers.

See Part IV, Deploying Instant Messaging for more information on Instant Messaging concepts and deployment aspects.