Connecting to other Sametime Communities

I ran across this post from Stephan Wissel that outlines a number of useful Sametime servers that you can connect to and instructions on how to do it.  Fantastic info!

Expand your IM contacts.  I just joined Sametime communities for the IBM external Sametime server, the Greenhouse and Bleedyellow.  Feel free to contact me there!

Adventures in Sametime 8.5.2 - Case Sensitivity Sucks

I installed Sametime Standard 8.5.2 a while ago.  Along with that I installed the Sametime System Console, Proxy Server and Meeting Server on IBM i.  Furthermore, I converted Sametime from standard Domino to Domino LDAP off another Domino server we have.

I was the 1st person on the newest client.  Everyone else was on the stock 8.0.2 Sametime client that comes with the Notes 8.5.1 install image we have everyone on.

A couple of issues we had:

• Sametime Proxy Server just would not accept a connection to the web based chat.
• With Proxy not working, the Meeting Server presence awareness business card feature did not work.
• With the 8.5.2 client, public groups just would not work.  I kept getting a public group subscription is pending error and 0 contacts in the public group.
• Sametime policies weren't coming down to the client level.  The SSC was properly assigning them though.
• Sametime awareness in the Inbox went away for everybody.  The embedded client worked fine, just the view awareness with the little colored Sametime icons were gone.

The inbox awareness was easy enough.  I needed to check the flag in Sametime preferences to "Use canonical names for status lookup."  I pushed that flag out via a policy in the Administrator client.

After scratching my head for a month, working with IBM support and getting our business partner involved, we just couldn't understand why the other items would not work.

Here's what was causing the issue:

Part of the change to Domino LDAP required the following line in the Sametime.ini file:

POLICY_DIRECTORY_BB_IMPL=com.ibm.sametime.policy.directorybb.ldap.DirldapBlackBox

 This setting is the "Name of java class that implements a directory Black Box, which looks for user public groups through organization Directory."  I had changed this setting when moving over from a Domino directory to Domino LDAP.  If you don't use LDAP, it would be *.notes.DirldapBlackBox

After scouring my sametime.ini the other day, I checked this parameter and it just didn't look right.  There should be a capital L in DirldapBlackBox.  I changed it to:

POLICY_DIRECTORY_BB_IMPL=com.ibm.sametime.policy.directorybb.ldap.DirLdapBlackBox

Immediately my public groups began populating.  Too good to be true.  Fluke?

I checked Proxy server web chat.  Works.

Business card awareness in meeting rooms?  Yee haw!

Lesson learned.  If you can copy and paste a string then do it.  Don't type it out.


 

Succeeding with Social Business: Seven Steps to Greatness

An InformationWeek Webcast:

Succeeding with Social Business: Seven Steps to Greatness 

Register Here

Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Time: 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET Duration: 60 minutes Companies, especially in the midmarket, struggle with social business. It’s difficult to execute it well while retaining corporate identity and voice. And then there’s the question of return-on-investment: How can you quantify your results and justify your investment? Learn the answers to these questions and how IBM’s social business strategy can help your company adopt a culture of transformation, creating a true connection between social business and success. Join this webcast to hear Ed Brill, IBM’s director of messaging and collaboration detail how companies of all sizes can secure a competitive advantage using social business and collaboration. During an interview with journalist and social media expert Karen J. Bannan, Brill will explain: How to bring the best voices to the forefront of your social business strategy Why social media is not a passing fad How companies can implement social business as cost-effectively as possible Why onboarding and training is so important How you may already have a solid "social" infrastructure and not even know it How security and compliance is affected by social business How social business is enabled by technologies such as cloud and mobile devices

Featured Speakers: Karen Bannan, Editor Ed Brill, Director, Lotus Notes and Domino Marketing & Strategy

Will IBM Continue Supporting Domino, Quickr and Sametime on IBM i?

In the past two months I've spoken with a number of IBM employees and customers to help bring support for IBM i to Connections and Sametime.

The general consensus from IBM Collaboration Solutions (i.e., Lotus) is that it's a great idea, however there hadn't been any real demand from existing IBM i customers.  This is why those products were released without full native support.

What I hope is not happening, is that this is the beginning of reduced or eventual eliminated support for IBM i in future versions of Domino, Quickr and Sametime.

That's a bold statement.  What makes me assume this?  Two reasons:

1.  IBM released new versions of Sametime with components that now:

• are compartmentalized into Websphere Application Server instances on IBM i, and
• run solely on Windows/Linux/AIX/Solaris.

2.  IBM has developed Connections with ZERO support for IBM i.

If IBM i enthusiasts are not standing up and demanding support, who's to say that in the future, existing supported configurations will be met at upgrade time with IBM saying: "Sorry, you need to run this on a Linux partition now."

This is not acceptable.



I urge you to demand that IBM fully support Connections and Sametime on our beloved IBM i.  The IBM i evangelists out there who don't even run Lotus solutions on their servers may not think they have a dog in this fight, but I strongly disagree.  It could be a different solution changed or eliminated for you next.  You have the chance to push IBM to provide a total messaging, collaboration and social solution on IBM i.  We're not far from that...but you need to make noise to make this happen.  IBM has continued to invest in this platform, but they can do more if we demand it and show them there is a business case.


The omission of full IBM i support in Connections and Sametime alienates the existing IBM i install base.  Especially those customers who have made significant investment in IBM i on Power, and do not want to invest unnecessary resources on time, training and licensing costs for AIX or Linux. 


For those of you who don't run IBM i, I also ask you to demand support as it gives you yet another option.  The IBM i install base is very strong and growing.  Allowing us into the Connections world strengthens Connections as a product and brand by increasing global Connections users and providing it more revenue.  I also ask you to understand the benefits of Lotus on IBM i...it's a one of a kind solution with benefits other platforms simply can't provide. 

I will hopefully have a formal avenue for you to demand Sametime support soon.  In the meantime, make your opinions known by forwarding this article, sharing it on social media sites, talking to your IBM business partner or any IBM employees you know.

To demand IBM Connections support for IBM i, please visit the Connections Ideation Blog and click the Vote button.  You will need a Greenhouse ID and password.  It only takes a second to get one.  

Here's the direct link to vote:  Vote for Connections on IBM i