Microsoft Buys Enterprise Chat Firm

Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to acquire Chicago-based Parlano, which makes the popular enterprise chat application MindAlign. The move further bolsters the Redmond company's arsenal of unified communications products.

The technology in MindAlign will be integrated into Office Communications Server and the client Office Communicator application. Although Microsoft has long offered group chat abilities, Parlano's program focuses on topic-oriented chats that can persist over multiple sessions. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed, although Microsoft is unlikely to continue developing MindAlign as a standalone product.