A new DLL just appeared inside the Intune Management Extension AKA Sidecar Agent folder.
It references IC3… which is the same platform that powers real-time communication in Teams.
So why is it showing up in the IME?
Introduction
A while back, I wrote about how Intune relies heavily on WNS push notifications. The Windows Notification Service was the middleman (The Blackbox), Intune sends a nudge/push, WNS tries to deliver it, and if it makes it through, the device checks in. That model works, but the WNS is fragile. Sometimes pushes vanish in thin air, sometimes they’re delayed, and Intune has no clue if the device actually received them…. Because WNS is a block box. Now something new has appeared in the Intune Management Extension (IME) folder: Microsoft.IC3.Trouter.dll
If you’ve ever looked at how Teams works, IC3 is the Intelligent Conversation and Communications Cloud. It’s the backbone/platform that keeps Teams messages, calls, and presence flowing across millions of devices in real time. It doesn’t just “send and hope.” It maintains a persistent, stateful connection and knows exactly whether a client is online…. or not. So why is the IC3 Dll suddenly part of IME?
A Peek Inside the IC3 DLL
The DLL isn’t a stub. It ships with a full Trouter client implementation. Some things that immediately stood out when we opened up that DLL:
- Connection states:
Initial → Connecting → Connected → Disconnected → ErrorConnecting
This isn’t a fire-and-forget model like WNS. Intune will actually know when the device is online.
- Registration logic:
- Posts to v4/users/ME/endpoints
- Declares a transport type of TROUTER
- Provides a context, forwarderUrl, and a ttl (time to live)
- Enforces rules: TTL must be at least 300 seconds, refresh must happen at least 30 seconds before expiration
- Uses correlation vectors (MS-CV) for end-to-end tracing
- Auth flow:
- All requests are wrapped with whatever headers the IAuthenticationHeadersProvider supplies.
- The code even supports client certificates (RegistrarApiClientV4 switches modes when a cert is passed).
- Retry & resilience:
- Exponential backoff (1, 2, 4, up to 64 seconds) if registration fails.
- Automatic refresh scheduled before TTL expiry.
- Clean unregistration on shutdown.
In other words: this isn’t “maybe we’ll try to check in.” This is persistent registration with retries, telemetry, and state changes.
What Does IC3 Mean for Intune?
If the IME is maintaining a TROUTER registration with IC3, it suddenly looks a lot more like a Teams client than a passive MDM agent. Which hints at some pretty cool changes:
- Direct channel: Instead of waiting on built-in IME timers, the IME could keep a socket open to Microsoft’s IC3 backbone.
- Real-time awareness: The client knows if it’s connected or not (Connected vs. ErrorConnecting). Which means Intune could know this, too. Imagine seeing an “online/offline” signal for devices, instead of guessing. Did I spoil something here :)?
- Targeted delivery: The payloads show context and forwarderUrl. That suggests notifications can be routed more precisely, not just “go sync,” but “send this here.”
- Resilience: With retry, TTL refresh, and clean unregistration, this channel is built for continuous reliability.
Connecting the (IC) 3 Dots
Right now, we’ve only seen the DLL and its registration logic. But combined with what we know from the WNS story, it paints a pretty clear picture:
- WNS was the middleman.
- IC3 is direct.
- IME is quietly learning how to be an always-connected client.
So what could follow? Faster Win32 App installations? Real-time script triggers? Or even just something as simple and as powerful as a green/red Online Status switch in Intune that finally tells you whether a device is truly online?
Please note that this picture above is a mock-up… I think?
Still, it’s worth remembering that a green “online status” doesn’t automatically mean “healthy.” A device might show green because its IC3 channel is alive, while SideCar or other Intune components could still be having an issue. IC3 is about presence… knowing the line is open… not about verifying that every service behind it is working as expected.
To Be Continued…
One DLL doesn’t rewrite the whole IME, but this IC3.Trouter.dll feels intentional.
Microsoft has already proven how IC3 powers Teams through real-time presence, instant signaling. Now it’s showing up in IME with the same structure in place: registration, state handling, retry logic, and telemetry.
If you read our earlier blog about how Microsoft is improving the fast lane for policy delivery, this IC3 integration seems to do the same for IME. It moves away from delayed or uncertain notifications toward a constant, direct connection that keeps Intune aware of the device in real time.
Summary
The arrival of IC3 within the Intune Management Extension seems to mark the start of a faster, more connected Intune. Since IME is responsible for deploying Win32 apps and running PowerShell scripts, a direct IC3 connection could mean these actions no longer rely on scheduled polling by the IME agent but trigger the moment Intune sends the signal. App installs, script executions, and remediations could happen instantly rather than waiting for the next IME check-in.
The IME might be getting its own superpowers through IC3, but you can be the real hero keeping endpoints fast and reliable.
Step up, be the Patch Hero, and join our Superhero Giveaway to keep every device running strong.
