North Dakota State Government Instant Messaging

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Welcome to North Dakota State Government Instant Messaging

Working in conjunction with the ND Enterprise Architecture process, the Information Technology Department is pleased to offer an "Enterprise-grade" Instant Messaging (IM) service.

There was a time when Instant Messaging was simply a growing Internet fad; a hip tool for Generation "Y-Not" folks to stay in touch with their online buddies. Yet research shows that IM is now being fired up at work by eleven million people and has found its way into 84% of all North American companies. Indeed, casual, consumer-grade instant messaging has infiltrated the workplace - with or without the sanction and control of IT.

Despite its popularity, consumer-grade IM falls short of enterprise requirements. Issues related to security, archiving, integration, reliability, scalability, compliance, and standards have caused organizations to migrate towards their own enterprise-grade IM solutions.

In response to this trend, ITD is offering an IM solution based upon Microsoft's Live Communication Server. This system integrates tightly with the newly branded "Microsoft Office System", including Microsoft Office and Outlook. And unlike AOL, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger, all of the information transmitted stays safely within the boundaries of the ND state network.

Features:

• Presence Detection to enable one computer user to see whether another user is currently logged on.
• Messaging to allow immediate, text-based conversations between two or more people.
• Desktop Audio/Video Conferencing to allow dynamic, on-demand sharing of information through a virtual "face-to-face" meeting.
• White-boarding to allow multiple users to write or draw on a shared virtual tablet.
• File Transfer to exchange digital files with people.
• Application Sharing to enable the user of one computer to take control of an application running on another user's computer.
• Remote Desktop Control to enable a support professional to take control of all functionality on another user's computer.

Windows Messenger 5.0 (or greater) is the client used in conjunction with Live Communication Server.

Requesting IM Service

ITD's online Work Management System can be used to request Instant Messaging service at a rate of $1.25/account/month. This price includes all related Microsoft Client Access Licensing and ITD hosting services.

Related Links

Microsoft Live Communications Server Homepage

Enterprise Architecture Recommendation