About Instant Messaging

Sun Java System Instant Messaging 7.2 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 System Portal Server and Sun Java System Access Manager 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, gateways, and components. Some of these clients 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.