Addressing Security Concerns
Any system that allows communications between two or more correspondents is a potential target for viruses and the delivery of unsolicited content. Because Live Communications Server is an internally focused enterprise IM solution, its exposure to these threats is limited; however, systems administrators should still be cautious. Live Communications Server doesn't scan for viruses during IM file transfers or detect malicious content in an IM conversation stream, so you have to depend on third-party vendors to protect against these threats. Sybari is the first of the traditional security vendors to have such a product. Sybari's Antigen 7.5 for IM performs several functions, including antivirus scanning and file filtering, and offers content-blocking capabilities for conversation streams and file transfers.
As Live Communications Server evolves and the capability to connect together disparate IM systems becomes commonplace, the widespread acceptance of IM will make it ripe for abuse. Spammers have traditionally relied on email but are increasingly using IM to ply their trade. To make matters worse, emerging legislation could leave your company liable if you fail to provide a safe working environment for your employees.
Archiving IM Conversations
One notable shortcoming of IM is the short-lived nature of conversations. Most traces of an IM conversation vanish when the user finishes his or her conversation and closes the PC client window. Although most people don't keep an archive of their oral conversations, modern business practice has come to expect a permanent record of all conversations. This expectation is particularly true of those companies that work in the financial services, pharmaceutical, and legal sectors in which correspondence archiving and compliance is becoming mandatory.
Windows Messenger 5.0 provides some client-side logging by creating an XML file in the \my documents\my received files\logon name\history folder. Although users can copy a conversation from an IM window or from the client-side log file, such efforts don't provide any evidence that the conversation occurred. Legislation demands that the record be verifiable and that the correspondents can be identified.
Live Communications Server provides a rudimentary form of server-side conversation archiving. You can designate any home server or front-end server running Live Communications Server as an archiving server by installing the Archiving Agent on it. The archiving server must be running Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3 or later and Microsoft Message Queue Services (MSMQ). If you consider a message sent from one correspondent to another as a transaction, then the Archiving Agent will log to the archiving server every transaction that passes through a Live Communications Server-based server that has the Archiving Agent installed.
For every transaction, the Archiving Agent logs the following information on the archiving server: From field, To field, Time field, and the message content. Unfortunately, the archiving and reporting mechanisms aren't very sophisticated. Live Communications Server doesn't easily let you view conversation threads or easily retrieve the contents of a specific conversation, other than by executing some SQL queries. So if you want to generate reports or retrieve archived content, you must roll out your own scripts.
Conversation archiving is an obvious shortcoming in the Live Communications Server feature lineup, and several third-party vendors have introduced solutions to shore up this area. Chief vendors in this area include IMlogic with its IMlogic IM Manager product and FaceTime Communications with its IM Auditor product. These applications greatly enhance Live Communications Server's logging and archiving functionality. Keeping a history of corporate IM communication is becoming increasingly important given the strictures of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, and the new Sarbanes-Oxley compliance legislation on accounting practices.
Manageability and Reporting
Out of the box, Live Communications Server boasts little in the way of management, monitoring, or reporting functionality. It can restrict who can be seen in the Windows Messenger Address Book (i.e., user entries in AD), and you can deny user access to the Live Communications Server service by disabling Live Communications Server accounts.
To improve the manageability and the reporting of your enterprise IM, you'll have to again look beyond Live Communications Server to third-party offerings. Both IMlogic's IM Manager and FaceTime's IM Director let you apply administrative policies to your Live Communications Server infrastructure. These policies let you control who can access services and restrict sensitive information so that this information can't leave your company's network. From a reporting perspective, you should consider the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) Management Pack for Live Communications Server, which lets you monitor Live Communications Server-based servers and receive reports on IM activity, such as the number of sessions during a given period of time.
Extending Live Communications Server's Functionality
As with any mainstream product, inventive third-party companies always come up with ideas and ways to make the basic product better. Here are a few solutions that I find particularly interesting.
eDial's IM Web Access Server lets users access their Live Communications Server accounts by using only a Web browser—you don't need to have the Windows Messenger client on the desktop. The Web application has the look and feel of the traditional Windows Messenger client. By using IM Web Access Server, anyone can use a thin client from anywhere on the network to access their Live Communications Server account. Furthermore, the program opens up the possibility of letting partners or road warriors easily communicate from outside the corporate network.
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