Another great way to communicate using Lync 2013 with people inside and outside the boundaries of their organization is through the use of Persistent Chat. You might have first known it as Group Chat; this is the former name used during the Office Communications Server 2007 (R2) period. Persistent Chat is real-time communication in chat rooms. This capability is already embedded in the Lync 2013 client application and is also available as a web client after some customization.

Whenever businesses, user groups, or communities need to have the ability to discuss a certain topic, search through chat history, collaborate in real time with a community, or have a place to discuss a specific topic, Persistent Chat is the right platform for connecting these people. It is important to understand the difference between "normal chat" and "persistent chat". A normal or standard chat would be between one or multiple people and the communicated content would also usually be...