Configuring Online Presence Settings (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)
Online presence allows users of your site to see if other users are online and send instant messages to them. To use online presence, your users must have Microsoft Office 2003 installed, must be running Microsoft Windows Messenger version 4.6 or later or MSN Messenger version 4.6 or later on their client computers, and they must have valid accounts with the .NET Messenger Service or Microsoft Exchange Instant Messaging service. Note that the e-mail address for the instant messaging account must be compatible with the e-mail address for the user account in Windows SharePoint Services.
To see presence information for people with .NET Messenger Service accounts, the e-mail address for the messenger contact must be the same as the e-mail address for the user account in Windows SharePoint Services. To see presence information for people with Exchange Instant Messaging service accounts, the user name must be the same, although the address may vary (for example, someone@example.com for the e-mail address, and someone@im.example.com for the instant messaging address), depending on your organization's Exchange configuration. For best results, it is recommended that users use their primary SMTP address for both instant messaging and their user account in Windows SharePoint Services. For more information about configuring Exchange Instant Messaging for your organization, see the Microsoft Exchange 2000 documentation.
The Office 2003 installation includes an ActiveX control that allows Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to render online status for site users. This control checks the e-mail address on record for the user and directs a query to the presence server for that client to see if they are online. The ActiveX control does not store online information or e-mail addresses; it simply directs queries from the site to the e-mail address and renders the appropriate status.
You can enable or disable online presence information at the virtual server level. When you enable online presence for a virtual server, it is enabled for all sites and subsites of that virtual server.
Enable online presence for a virtual server
On the SharePoint Central Administration page, under Virtual Server Configuration, click Configure virtual server settings.
On the Virtual Server List page, click the name of the virtual server you want to configure.
Under Virtual Server Management, click Virtual server general settings.
In the Person Name Smart Tag and Presence Settings section, next to Enable Person Name smart tag and Online Status for members, select Yes.
Click OK.