Chapter 2. To Chat or Not to Chat: Lotus Sametime

With the advancement of technology and social networking, we can see certain forms of communication growing at a rapid rate, one of these being online chat, also known as instant messaging. There are various types of applications such as Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, and so on that enable us to chat with people far and near. Within Lotus Notes there is an inbuilt chat application called Lotus Sametime. For its employees to take advantage of the features of Sametime within the Lotus Notes client, an organization will need to install Sametime. This chapter will take the stance that your organization has installed Lotus Sametime.

There are many advantages that come with Sametime. First, it is relatively low cost; it is not like a cell phone call where one is charged by the minute. Another advantage is the ability to see who is available to chat, which is fantastic when we're communicating with people who are outside of...