Create and Use an Ad Hoc Group Chat

An ad hoc group chat lets multiple people simultaneously share chat messages. All participants receive messages sent from any participant in the ad hoc group chat. The group chat ends when all participants are offline.

When in an individual chat, you can create an ad hoc group chat by adding other online participants. Participants must be online to be added to an ad hoc group chat. You cannot create an ad hoc group chat with offline participants.

To create an ad hoc group chat:

• 1. Open an individual chat with another online participant.

  2. In the Chat Controls toolbar (lower right-hand corner of the chat window), click .

  3. In the People field, type the name of an additional person you’d like to add to the group chat and select them when they appear in the search results. Repeat this step until all participants appear in the People field. Alternatively, you may select among your more recent contacts.

  4. Click Start.

  5. You can start chatting with the group in the same way you do with an individual chat.

Create and use a persistent group chat

A persistent chat group is enduring, unlike an ad hoc group. They are always available, whether on not all participants are online. They can be private (i.e., limited to just the people invited by the owner) or public (i.e., accessible to anyone who wants to join).

See How to Request a Persistent Chat Room for more details.