XCCC: Cannot Invite Non-Exchange Server Users into an Instant Message Conversation (252495)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

This article was previously published under Q252495

SYMPTOMS

When you invite someone who does not use Microsoft Exchange Server Instant Messaging Service into an Exchange Server Instant Messaging conversation, the following behavior may occur. When you click Invite, and you click Other on the To conversation menu, and you then type any standard RFC 822 address (such as user@company.com), the client attempts to resolve the user's Instant Messaging domain so that it can deliver the Instant Messaging message. The client waits approximately two minutes, and then displays a message in the Instant Messaging window that indicates that "user@company.com" has left the conversation. If you attempt to send a message before you receive the message indicating that "user@company.com" has left, you receive the following error message:
The following message could not be delivered to all recipients

CAUSE

You should not be able to invite someone who does not use Exchange Server Instant Messaging, such as a Hotmail user, to join an Exchange Server Instant Messaging conversation. Conversely, you should not be able to invite an Exchange Server user to join a Hotmail Instant Messaging conversation. The servers do not check to see that an ID is valid until after the ID is added to the conversation. Hotmail SP works as expected, but Exchange Server SP does not return errors if a bad ID is passed in.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server.

MORE INFORMATION

The message that the Hotmail user has been added to the conversation is not correct because you should not be able to do so. The message that states, "The following message could not be delivered..." is also incorrect because the Exchange Server user still receives Instant Messaging.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbbug kberrmsg kbnofix KB252495