Using the Instant Messenger

This topic describes how you work with the instant messenger in the portal:

• Starting an instant messaging session
• Replying to an instant message
• Adding participants to an ongoing instant messaging session
• Ending your participation in an instant messaging session
  Caution

  Instant messaging does not work if you are running a third-party popup blocker application.

  Before initiating or joining an instant messaging session, either close the popup blocker or add the portal domain to the allowed sites of your popup blocker application. If the latter still does not solve the problem, close the popup blocker completely

• You and the intended recipients are logged on to the portal.
• Your availability status in the portal and that of the intended recipients must be online (see Personalizing the Availability Status).

Sending an Instant Message (Starting a Session)

You start an instant messaging session by sending the first message.

1. Open the Collaboration Launch Pad (see Working with the Collaboration Launch Pad (CLP)).
2. In the Collaboration Launch Pad, choose the users to whom you want to send the instant message:
   • To send an instant message to one or more users already listed in your portal contact list, select the check box of each user. Then, choose Send Instant Message in the Collaboration menu in the Collaboration Launch Pad.
   • To send an instant message to a single user not listed in your portal contact list, choose Contacts > Add Contacts. In the Add Contacts window, type the name of the user and click Add. Then, choose Send Instant Message in the context menu.
3. Open the Messages tab.
4. Enter your text message in the box located to the left of the Send button.
5. Click Send. The instant message is sent to the selected recipients. Your name and the message text are displayed in the message log area in the Message window.

Replying to an Instant Message

When you receive an instant message from another portal user, a window with the message in it automatically appears on your desktop. If needed, you can reply to the sender in the same window that you received the message.

1. Enter your text message in the box located to the left of the Send button.
2. Click Send. Your text message is sent to all users participating in the current session. Your name and the text message are displayed in the message log area of all participants. The current time is also displayed if your locale is defined. .
   Note

   You cannot prevent a message from being sent to a particular user currently in the session. To restrict a message to a particular participant in the current session, you can initiate a new instant message session in parallel to the one you are participating in.

Adding Participants to an Ongoing Instant Messaging Session

Any user participating in an ongoing instant messaging session can invite other users to join the session after it has started.

1. Click the Add Participants link in the instant messaging window.
2. In the input box, type one or more names of portal users or user groups you want to add. If you enter more than one name, you must separate them with a semicolon.

   Alternatively, if you want to search for users or user groups, do the following:

   1. Enter any part of user's name and use wildcards or leave the input box empty.
   2. Click Select. The Search for People window appears.
   3. In the Search for People window, select the intended user from the list of possible matches.
   4. Click Apply, or click the user name.
3. Click Add to add the users or user groups displayed in the input field to the ongoing session. An instant messaging window is automatically opened on the desktop of each user you invited (if the user is online)

   When a new user joins an ongoing instant messaging session, all participants receive a notification in their respective message log areas informing them that a new user has joined the session.

   Note

   New users joining an ongoing instant messaging session cannot view the earlier text messages that were exchanged between the participants before he or she joined the session.

4. Click Back to Instant Messaging to continue the session. You can view any messages that were generated by other participants while you were in the Add Participants window.

Ending your Participation in an Instant Messaging Session

A user participating in an instant messaging session may leave the session at any time by closing the Instant Messaging window, or by logging out of the portal. The remaining participants receive a message that you have left the session.