Penn State Chat Service
This service provides secure instant messaging capability for Penn State students, faculty, and staff.
An IM/chat service, chat.psu.edu, is available to Penn State students, faculty, and staff. This service uses the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) server software, known as "ejabberd," to enable instant messaging communications. XMPP is a set of open technology standards for presence and real-time communication.
The chat service allows members of the Penn State community to use their respective Penn State Access Accounts to chat with people both inside and outside of the University. Through the service, all communication sessions between individuals and group chats are fully encrypted and the identities of both parties are easily confirmed through the integrated use of the Penn State Access Account. Likewise, users can activate their accounts at any time via their preferred chat client. One's chat.psu.edu screen name is his/her Access Account userID@chat.psu.edu (for example, "xyz5000@chat.psu.edu"), and the password is his/her Access Account password.
Details, instructions, and client configurations for using Penn State's Chat service are found in the ITS Knowledge Base (KB) at http://kb.its.psu.edu/article/558. Inquiries and requests for assistance should be directed to ITS Help Desk staff at helpdesk@psu.edu.
