Communicating with Remote Users

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Session objects are used to communicate with remote users. The session is the central component of communication functionality exposed by Microsoft Unified Communications Client API. For more information, see Session Objects.

Before working with a session, you should be familiar with creating a platform object and signing a user in to Microsoft Office Communications Server. For more information, see Creating and Initializing a Platform Object and Sign a User into Office Communications Server.

The basic functionality required for real-time communication is exposed by the IUccSession interface. By itself, this interface is only useful for establishing collaboration sessions and inviting participants. The communication modalities unique to the various session types are exposed by modality-specific interfaces such as the IM session interface and the Audio/Video session interface.

Session Modality Types

Modality	Description
IM	Instant messaging (IM) communication. This modality supports text-only transmission. The IM modality can be used with a peer-to-peer IM session or an IM conference. For more information, see Conducting IM Conversations.
Audio/Video	Webcam communication. This modality uses audio devices such as a webcam and webcam microphone and establishes an audio/video media stream between two clients. If a UC-enabled USB telephone is available to a client, session audio can be carried by the USB telephone. For more information, see Conducting an Audio/Video Session.
Conference	Multi-party, multi-modal communication. This modality combines the ability to include more than two users with the ability to support multiple modalities. Conference sessions must be scheduled and joined using a different mechanism than a peer-to-peer session. For more information, see Creating Conferences.
Remote Call Control	Phone communication. With this modality a custom client emulates a telephone. A client can dial a telephone number and interact with a remote telephone on the public switch telephone network (PSTN). A microphone and computer speaker can also be used with this modality. This type of session builds upon the audio/video session and uses only audio. For more information, see Telephone Sessions

In This Section

• Performing Essential Session Tasks
  Discusses the tasks involved in getting a session manager from an enabled endpoint, creating a new session, and inviting a remote user to participate in the new session.

• Peer-to-Peer Sessions
  Discusses the specific operational details of IM and audio/video peer-to-peer sessions.

• Conference Sessions
  Discusses scheduling and joining conference sessions.

• Telephone Sessions
  Discusses creating and managing telephone sessions using remote call control.

See Also

Concepts

Getting Started Using Unified Communications Client API
Creating and Initializing a Platform Object
Sign a User into Office Communications Server
Managing Remote Contacts
Creating Conferences
Configuring Media Devices