A-Communicator

Launch program

Select the A-Communicator icon on your desktop using the mouse or keyboard or launch the application from the Start menu. The first dialog to appear is the Login screen. You must enter a valid username, password, and server name to gain access to A-Communicator's chat room features. Note that these fields are case sensitive.

screenshot of Login dialog

If you have not yet created a username or password, select the "Register a New Account" button. If you do not know what server name to enter, ask your system administrator. The Port data is populated automatically into that field. Select "Login" once username, password, and server name have been entered. This launches the A-Communicator Roster dialog.

First time users

First time users must create a "Username" and "Password" account before they can join a chat. Begin by selecting the "Register a New Account" button, which launches the New Account Registration dialog.

screenshot of New Account dialog

Select the appropriate server from the pull-down menu. If you are unsure which server name to select, contact your system administrator.

screenshot of New Account pull-down menu

Once the appropriate server has been chosen, select the "Next" button (Alt-N on the keyboard) to continue or "Cancel" to abort the new account setup. Selecting "Next" launches the ID and Password dialog.

screenshot of server pull-down menu

Jabber Name

Enter a username in the Jabber Name field. Login names enable users to gain access to A-Communicators and store personalized settings (i.e. contact names, chat groups, etc.) on their system. Multiple usernames can be created if individuals share a workstation or prefer to have a unique username for each chat group to which they belong. Your Jabber ID (or JID) is case sensitive and can be made up of a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and underscore as well as other special characters. It should not, however, exceed 20 characters or include blank spaces (use the underscore character instead.)

Password

A-Communicator's "Password" field (combined with a user's Jabber Name) is used to confirm an individual's identity. Passwords must adhere to the guidelines described above in Jabber Name (i.e. case-sensitive, etc.) For security purposes, asterisks appear in place of the actual characters. Users must enter their password each time A-Communicator is launched. Passwords are never stored or populated automatically into the Password field. If you forget your password, contact the chat or server administrator.

Once you have selected a valid JID and confirmed your password by entering it twice, select the Register Account button (Alt-n). This launches the Roster dialog.

screenshot of Roster dialog

The default setting for all users when the Roster dialog first appears is "Offline". In "Offline" mode, users can change their default sound settings, view "About" A-Communicator and their JID, access "Help" files or "Exit" the program entirely via the A-Communicator pull-down menu. They cannot, however, send messages, add or remove a contact, monitor the presence of other users, or join a group chat until they connect "Online".



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