DOC Instant Messenger - How To

Conversation Window

Conversation Window menu

• File allows you to save the conversation , print the conversation , or close the window .

• Action allows you to Send a message, add a user to the conversation, block a user from messaging you, leave a conversation, or close the window.

• Format allows you to apply bold, italics, or underline formatting to text your message text.

• Insert allows you to insert a file attachment or Emoticon into your message.  

• Help allows you to access help files for the Conversation Window dialog.  Help can also be accessed by pressing F1.

To and Add User

• To lists all users who are participating in the conversation.  

• Add  User allows you to include other users in the conversation.

Conversation Tools

• Conversation Tools allow you to attach a file , insert an Emoticon , or format your message text.

Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons

• Minimize and Maximize behave similarly to other Windows applications.

• Close closes the window, but it does not end the conversation.  If another member of the conversation sends a message after you close the window, the window will reappear.  To end your participation in the conversation, select Action > Goodbye / Leave Conversation.

Send Button

• After typing your message, click Send to enter your message in the conversation log.  Send is not enabled until you enter a message.

Adding a Contact

Ipswitch Instant Messaging enables you to easily add a new contact to your Personal Contacts List . 
 

To add a contact, complete one of  the following two processes:

• Process:
  

  1. From the Main Window , select or highlight the Personal Contacts.
      

  2. On the toolbar, select Action > New Contact (or right click on Personal Contacts and select New Contact).  The New Contact dialog window appears.
      

  3. In Contact address, enter the new contact's account name, then click Next.  (DOC email address without the @doc.state.ok.us.  For example, if the person's email address is joe.blow@doc.state.ok.us, then just type joe.blow)
      

  4. The Contact Information panel appears. You can accept the name as provided by the system or alter it to reflect your own preferences.
      

  5. When you've finished entering or altering your new contact's information, click Finish.
      

  6. The Main Window displays. Under Personal Contacts, your new contact is now visible.

Sending an Instant Message (IM)    

To send an IM, complete the following steps:

1. From the Main Window , select a contact or contact group from the Personal Contacts List.
    

2. On the toolbar, select Action.
    

3. Then select Send Instant Message.  (You may also  right click the contact or group and select Send Instant Message or double click the contact or group.)
    

4. The Conversation Window displays. From there, you can write and send your message.

Note: Accelerator Keys can speed the task of formatting your messages.

5. In the Conversation Window, type your message in the Lower Window and click Send .
    

6. When your message is sent. A copy of it displays in the Conversation Window's upper window.

Spell Checking

 Ipswitch Instant Messaging automatically checks each word you enter against its spell checking dictionary.  As you are composing your message, any words that are not found in the dictionary will appear as highlighted text.  

 To access spell checking features for any misspelled word, right click on the word.

• Correctly spelled alternatives that closely match what you entered will be displayed.  Select one to replace the misspelled word.

• Select Add to include the word in your dictionary (if, for example, it is a commonly-used acronym in your office environment).

• Select Ignore All to mark the word as correct for the duration of the conversation.  It will be marked as incorrectly spelled in all other conversations.

Receiving an Instant Message (IM)

Ipswitch Instant Messaging notifies you of messages you receive.   If you are not online when the message is received, Ipswitch Instant Messaging will notify you the next time you log on.

 Notification While Logged On

 If a message is received while you're online, Ipswitch Instant Messaging will notify you immediately using the options you specify in the General Options :

• Flashing. The conversation tile on the task bar will flash when a message is received.  To view the message, restore the Conversation Window by clicking on the tile.
  

• Bring window to front on new message.  When a new message is received, the Conversation Window appears in front of all running applications on your desktop

Note: Ipswitch Instant Messaging can also play your system's default sound when a message is received.  Sound notification is configured on the General Options page.

 
Notification While Not Logged On

 If you are not logged on to the Ipswitch Instant Messaging network when another user initiates an conversation, you will receive a message the next time you log on notifying you that you received an Offline conversation.  To read the message, select it, then click View.

Adding a Group

Ipswitch Instant Messaging allows you to organize your Personal Contacts list into groups.

To create a new group, complete the following steps:

1. From the Main Window, select Personal Contacts.
    

2. On the toolbar, select Action > New Group (or right click on Personal Contacts and select New Group).  A New Group dialog window appears.
    

3. Enter the name of the group and click OK.

Note: Group names are limited to 64 characters.

4. The Main Window appears with your new group visible.  You can now add a contact to the group.

Sending a Message to More Than One Person

Ipswitch Instant Messaging makes it easy to send a message to more than one person:

1. From the Main Window , select a Contact or Contact Group from the Personal Contacts list.  

Note: You can select ranges of contacts by holding shift as you click the first and last contact in the range.  You can also select multiple contact by holding control as you click each one.

2. From menu items on the toolbar, select Action > Send Instant Message.  
   
   OR, after making your selections, right click on any of the selected contacts or groups and select Send Instant Message.
    

3. The Conversation Window appears; now, you're ready to write and send your message.
    

4. Type your message into the Lower Pane and click Send.
    

5. When your message is sent, the original text disappears from the bottom panel, and a copy of it appears in the Upper Pane.

Attaching a File

To attach a file to the conversation:

1. From the Conversation Tools , click or select Insert > File.  The Open dialog appears.
    

2. Enter the path and filename or browse to find the file you wish to attach.
    

3. Once you've located the file, select it and then click Open, or you can double-click the file.
    

4. Once the file has been selected, it's attached to your unsent instant message.  Click Send to send the attached file to the conversation.

Note: An attachment is counted as part of a single sent message , which may contain an unlimited number of characters. However, your Ipswitch Instant Messaging administrator may set a limit, however, which would limit the size of attachments as well.

Emoticons

To Insert an Emoticon into a message:

1. From a Conversation Window , use your mouse and click on the Conversation Tool set.
    

2. An Emoticon list displays. Click the desired Emoticon from the list.
    

3. The selected Emoticon is inserted into your message.

Retrieving Recent Conversations

Ipswitch Instant Messaging is configured to store messages, you can retrieve those messages after they are closed and before the time limit of 7 days expires.

 To retrieve a recent conversation:

1. From the Main Window , select View > Recent Conversations.  The Recent Conversations dialog appears with a listing of all the conversations you have participated in which are still saved on the server.  If there are many conversations stored on the server, it may take a moment for the Recent Conversations dialog to appear. 

2. Click the conversation you wish to retrieve, then click View.  The Conversation Window opens with the stored conversation in the Upper Pane.

3. The Dept. of Corrections saves all conversations FOREVER to comply with the Open Records Act.  Don't put anything in a conversation that will come back to haunt you.  The transcripts are public record.

Note:  Once an inactive conversation has been retrieved, you can activate it again for all involved by sending a new message to the conversation.

Log Off, Close or Exit

Log Off disconnects you from the messaging server. The application continues to run, and the log on window appears on your desktop.  To log off, select Action > Log Off from the Main Window.  You can also right click on the program icon in the task tray and select Log Off.

 
Close minimizes the program to the Windows system tray, but it does not terminate the program.  To close, select Action > Close from the Main Window, or click the Close button in the upper right corner of the program.

 
Exit disconnects you from the messaging server and terminates the program.   To exit, right click the program icon in the Windows system tray and select Exit.

 
You can not terminate a conversation using Exit, Log Off or Close.  Any messages sent to active conversations while you are logged out will be delivered to you once you log on.  If you are logged in but have closed the Conversation Window, the window will reappear when a message is received.

To end a conversation, you must select Action > Goodbye / Leave Conversation from the Conversation Window.

Missed Conversations

Others users can send you a message even when you are not logged on to Ipswitch Instant Messaging.

A missed conversation is stored on the Ipswitch Instant Messaging Server and, after you log on, the system will generate a Missed Conversation notification letting you know an offline message has been received and saved.

To Read the Conversation:

1. Select one of the following two ways to accept and view missed conversations.

1. Just after logging on, select Yes on the system generated Missed Conversation notification.
    

2. Or, if you chose to view the message later, open the Misse d Conversations dialog by selecting View > Missed Conversations from the Main Window .  Once the dialog opens, select the conversation from the list box and click View.

    

   
    

2. If the user who sent the message is online, the conversation will become a live conversation. If, however, your contact is not online, then your reply will be sent as an offline message that will appear in that person's Missed Conversation list.

Note: The contact who initiated the conversation will not know if you received the message, deleted it, or whether you just chose not to respond.

Saving Conversations

You can store the text of a conversation to your local computer for later reference.  

 Note: The saved conversation will not include any messages sent to the conversation after it is saved locally.

 To save a conversation to your local computer:

1. From the Conversation Window , select File > Save As.  

2. Indicate the local directory where you want to save the conversation, then enter a File name.  Select the File Type, then click Save.

Saved conversations can not be reactivated or viewed using Ipswitch Instant Messaging.  To view a saved conversation, locate and double click its icon using Windows Explorer.

 Note:  You can save a conversation in two file formats.  RTF Files (*.rtf) will preserve all of the formatting applied to the conversation, while Text Files (*.txt) will store only the text.