Accessing Instant Messaging

To start an instant messaging (IM) session, you click on the IM tab. From here you can start a chat, see your buddy list and change the status of your IM session.

  1. Click on the IM tab.

  2. Check to see if you appear online when you log in by confirming your status in the IM toolbar. If the status shows , you are ready to begin using IM.

 If it shows a different status, click on Online to open the drop down menu and change your status to online or available to chat.

You are now ready to start adding buddies.

Adding buddies

To use IM, you must have at least one buddy added to your buddy list. Buddies can be added from your Address Book or you can enter them manually. The buddy name appears on your buddy list in the Navigation pane when added.

To add a buddy:

  1. Click on the arrow on New to open the drop down menu.

  2. Select New Buddy. The Create New Buddy dialog box appears.

  3. Enter the email address of the contact you want to add as a buddy. If you are logged into an external service, you have the option to add friends to that service too.

  4. Enter the Buddy Name as you want it to appear on your list. If you do not enter a buddy name, the contact’s email address appears as their name on the list.

The buddy is automatically notified and given the option to allow or deny your add request.

  1. If you want to organize your buddies in to groups, choose a group for your new buddy. The default group is Buddies. To assign a new group, type in the name of the new group and click OK.

When you want to add a second buddy to the same group, click on the arrow beside the Buddy Groups field and choose the desired group.

If you do not want to assign a group, click OK. The new buddy appears under the Buddies group by default.

You can also add a new buddy by right-clicking in the white space in the navigation pane on the left and selecting New Buddy.

Alternatively, right-click on the grey bar that says Buddy List in the navigation pane, and select New Buddy.