Introduction

As part of your Office Communications Server (OCS) deployment, you will need to consider whether your organization requires the archiving of instant messages (IMs) and meetings or the recording of call detail records (CDRs) and other usage information. This will depend on your organization s policies as well as on government legislation and professional bodies which may also require the archiving of these messages.

Addressing Compliance Requirements

To address compliance requirements you need to determine which government legislation you must follow. For example, healthcare organizations need to take into account the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Some professional bodies also advise or require that communications are archived, so you will also need to know to which professional bodies your organization belongs.

Although there are external influences on archiving requirements, your organization may also have internal policies that you need to take into account when planning your archiving requirements for OCS. In general, the requirements for the archiving of IMs tend to be the same as for e-mail and other forms of electronic communication. If you are unsure of your organization s requirements, you should discuss it with your colleagues.