Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2 - Persistent Group Chat Uses
Unified Communications Thursday, October 16 2008Persistent group chat is probably the feature I most look forward to seeing in the R2 release of Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. If you aren’t familiar with Persistent group chat, the technology came into Microsoft with the acquisition of Parlano. Persistent group chat (PGC) allows teams to participate in chat room type discussions that are saved and can be archived. Topic based chat rooms or forums are created on the server and the history is saved even after everyone has left the discussion. I thought I would provide a few of scenarios where this new feature could be beneficial.
IT Support and Helpdesk
IT Helpdesks can setup channels specifically for discussing common issues or even providing real-time support to end users via chat. Searches can be performed on previous chats to build a knowledgebase of issues. Let’s take a look at an example situation. Suppose John is having an issue with his phone. He decides to enter the IT Support chat. John notices that Frank is already in the room chatting with a support technician and is having the same problem. The support technician posts basic phone troubleshooting steps to the chat. John performs the steps but is still unsuccessful in getting his phone to work properly. The support technician sends am IM to a 2nd tier engineer who then enters the chat. The 2nd tier engineer quickly scans over the chat history to get up-to-speed on the problem. He notices John mentioned a red error light is displayed on his phone. The 2nd tier engineer knows about this problem but can’t remember how it was solved. The 2nd tier engineer performs a search of a previous chat on this same topic and locates the resolution steps. The engineer posts these steps to the chat topic. Both Frank and John perform the steps and their phones begin working correctly. Notice this issue went from problem to resolved in about 10 – 15 minutes. The group chat could even be integrated with a ticketing system so that the entire conversation was logged and tracked.
Real-Time Updates
From my understanding this use case was very common in Financial markets even before Parlano was acquired by Microsoft. In the financial industry real-time information is essential. People need access to information as soon as it becomes available and email can be way to slow for this (Not to mention the inbox overload problem by sending out mass notification emails). Group chat provides a medium for financial organizations to not only notify other people in the organization but even customers of breaking news. For example an investment firm could setup a chat topic for merger notifications. Once a merger is publicly announced on wall street, someone could post the information to the chat topic. Employees and customers could have alerts setup to notify them when new information is posted to this chat topic. So you may ask, “How does this differ from technologies like RSS?”. Well after the information is posted to the chat room and everyone is notified, they could then begin real-time discussions on this announcement within the chat room. The investment firm could even start a live Q&A session on the spot for customers.
Corporate Social Networking
Another great use of group chat (and well spent time at work) is setting up social topics. These topics could range from corporate sponsored softball teams to what’s on the menu in the cafeteria. Have fun with this one!!
I’m sure a lot more usage scenarios will surface as group chat is released with OCS R2. If you have some of your own please feel free to post comments.
10.17.2008 at 10:41 AM
Dustin
that's a good start at explaining the value of "persistent" chat, and the examples are real (and there are so many more)...the only suggestion I would make is to refine one's view of how the rooms exist, they are joined, or how they are created.
We called them "channels" not chat rooms, the later implying an exit and entry on a regular basis. Channels imply a consistent participation in discussions of interest, such interests goes up and down on any given day, but never wanes.
The fact is, as knowledge workers, we crave real time information and attention. In a financial services setting, information is the currency, and currency is what they trade. Thus, these "chat rooms" are not things people enter and exit, but rather they live and breathe beyond the individual or the group. At any given time, within any of the channels one is connected to, there might be something that causes an action (buy, sell, fix a problem, avert a disaster, etc...). These actions find you as you are connected, they are not found by becoming periodically connected. By then it's too late.
That's also why the MindAlign (err...OCS) interface is so critical. Users have to have an environment (interface) that allows them to stay connected to these channels and easily consume what's being said, filtering in and out the importance. Our attention spans are short, and our time is precious, so we need the connections and filters to narrow down the chatter to the most important things to an individual. (this is why many people think persistent chat is a drag, they don' know how to monitor without becoming overwhelmed).
In many ways it is like RSS, as you have aptly suggested. In fact, RSS feeds are used to feed chat, but it's what we do collectively and individually that is valuable about the information and connection. If we are asked to join a "chat room" we lose the importance and immediacy. If we are connected to channels, our actions become natural.
In there lies the competitive advantage of firms. You are right to be excited by this inclusion of Chat in OCS. I'm just not sure if you yet know just how valuable it will be for you, but that is a good problem to have!
10.20.2008 at 11:14 AM
Nick..Thanks for the great comment and insight!!! I will admit I struggled with the correct "term" to use in the post to try and not confuse the readers, but your comment definitly sheds light on the different between a channel and a traditional chat room. I will update the post accordingly. Thanks for leaving the comment and providing great information on group chat.
11.06.2008 at 7:14 AM
I love the group caht capability however I am so disappointed with Microsoft. Parlano were aquired a year ago and it seems that all they have done is changed the splash screen. You need a sepparate client to Office Communicator and you cannot then escalate to video, conference, collaboration etc.
All in all rather disappointing :-(