diff --git a/Release/include/cpprest/ws_msg.h b/Release/include/cpprest/ws_msg.h
index 9b3fe713a7..171234edf0 100644
--- a/Release/include/cpprest/ws_msg.h
+++ b/Release/include/cpprest/ws_msg.h
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ class websocket_outgoing_message
 {
 public:
 
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Sets a the outgoing message to be an unsolicited pong message.
+	/// This is useful when the client side wants to check whether the server is alive.
+	/// </summary>
+	void set_pong_message()
+	{
+		this->set_message_pong();
+	}
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Sets a UTF-8 message as the message body.
     /// </summary>
@@ -152,6 +161,14 @@ class websocket_outgoing_message
 
     const pplx::task_completion_event<void> & body_sent() const { return m_body_sent; }
 
+	void set_message_pong()
+	{
+		concurrency::streams::container_buffer<std::string> buffer("");
+		m_msg_type = websocket_message_type::pong;
+		m_length = static_cast<size_t>(buffer.size());
+		m_body = buffer;
+	}
+
     void set_message(const concurrency::streams::container_buffer<std::string> &buffer)
     {
         m_msg_type = websocket_message_type::text_message;
diff --git a/Release/src/websockets/client/ws_client_wspp.cpp b/Release/src/websockets/client/ws_client_wspp.cpp
index 1e53f69e39..bd17af922e 100644
--- a/Release/src/websockets/client/ws_client_wspp.cpp
+++ b/Release/src/websockets/client/ws_client_wspp.cpp
@@ -373,13 +373,14 @@ class wspp_callback_client : public websocket_client_callback_impl, public std::
         {
         case websocket_message_type::text_message:
         case websocket_message_type::binary_message:
+		case websocket_message_type::pong:
             break;
         default:
             return pplx::task_from_exception<void>(websocket_exception("Invalid message type"));
         }
 
         const auto length = msg.m_length;
-        if (length == 0)
+        if (length == 0 && msg.m_msg_type != websocket_message_type::pong)
         {
             return pplx::task_from_exception<void>(websocket_exception("Cannot send empty message."));
         }
@@ -639,13 +640,19 @@ class wspp_callback_client : public websocket_client_callback_impl, public std::
                 ec);
             break;
         case websocket_message_type::binary_message:
-            client.send(
+			client.send(
                 this_client->m_con,
                 sp_allocated.get(),
                 length,
                 websocketpp::frame::opcode::binary,
                 ec);
             break;
+		case websocket_message_type::pong:
+			client.pong(
+				this_client->m_con,
+				"",
+				ec);
+			break;
         default:
             // This case should have already been filtered above.
             std::abort();
diff --git a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/client/send_msg_tests.cpp b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/client/send_msg_tests.cpp
index f0cd3ea82a..1303207a0e 100644
--- a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/client/send_msg_tests.cpp
+++ b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/client/send_msg_tests.cpp
@@ -103,6 +103,21 @@ pplx::task<void> send_text_msg_helper(SocketClientClass& client, web::uri uri, t
     return client.send(msg);
 }
 
+template<class SocketClientClass>
+pplx::task<void> send_pong_msg_helper(SocketClientClass& client, web::uri uri, test_websocket_server& server)
+{
+	server.next_message([](test_websocket_msg msg) // Handler to verify the message sent by the client.
+	{
+		websocket_asserts::assert_message_equals(msg, "", test_websocket_message_type::WEB_SOCKET_PONG_TYPE);
+	});
+
+	client.connect(uri).wait();
+
+	websocket_outgoing_message msg;
+	msg.set_pong_message();
+	return client.send(msg);
+}
+
 pplx::task<void> send_msg_from_stream(websocket_client& client,
                                              test_websocket_server& server,
                                              web::uri uri,
@@ -456,6 +471,25 @@ TEST_FIXTURE(uri_address, send_stream_binary_msg_no_length)
     client.close().wait();
 }
 
+// Send an unsolicited pong message to the server
+TEST_FIXTURE(uri_address, send_pong_msg)
+{
+	test_websocket_server server;
+	websocket_client client;
+	send_pong_msg_helper(client, m_uri, server).wait();
+	client.close().wait();
+}
+
+// Send an unsolicited pong message to the server with websocket_callback_client
+TEST_FIXTURE(uri_address, send_pong_msg_callback_client)
+{
+	test_websocket_server server;
+	websocket_callback_client client;
+	send_pong_msg_helper(client, m_uri, server).wait();
+	client.close().wait();
+}
+
+
 } // SUITE(send_msg_tests)
 
 }}}}
diff --git a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.cpp b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.cpp
index c1377ee4ec..4485e93f86 100644
--- a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.cpp
+++ b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.cpp
@@ -134,6 +134,19 @@ namespace utilities {
                 m_server_connected.set_exception(std::runtime_error("Connection attempt failed."));
             });
 
+			m_srv.set_pong_handler([this](websocketpp::connection_hdl hdl, std::string input)
+			{
+				auto fn = m_test_srv->get_next_message_handler();
+				assert(fn);
+
+				test_websocket_msg wsmsg;
+
+				wsmsg.set_data(std::vector<uint8_t>(input.begin(), input.end()));
+
+				wsmsg.set_msg_type(WEB_SOCKET_PONG_TYPE);
+				fn(wsmsg);
+			});
+
             m_srv.set_message_handler([this](websocketpp::connection_hdl hdl, server::message_ptr msg)
             {
                 auto pay = msg->get_payload();
@@ -151,12 +164,12 @@ namespace utilities {
                     wsmsg.set_msg_type(utilities::WEB_SOCKET_BINARY_MESSAGE_TYPE);
                     break;
                 case websocketpp::frame::opcode::text:
-                    wsmsg.set_msg_type(utilities::WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_MESSAGE_TYPE);
+					wsmsg.set_msg_type(utilities::WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_MESSAGE_TYPE);
                     break;
                 case websocketpp::frame::opcode::close:
                     wsmsg.set_msg_type(utilities::WEB_SOCKET_CLOSE_TYPE);
                     break;
-                default:
+				default:
                     // Websocketspp does not currently support explicit fragmentation. We should not get here.
                     std::abort();
                 }
@@ -262,7 +275,7 @@ namespace utilities {
         case test_websocket_message_type::WEB_SOCKET_CLOSE_TYPE:
             flags = websocketpp::frame::opcode::close; // WebSocket::FRAME_OP_CLOSE;
             break;
-        case test_websocket_message_type::WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_FRAGMENT_TYPE:
+		case test_websocket_message_type::WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_FRAGMENT_TYPE:
         case test_websocket_message_type::WEB_SOCKET_BINARY_FRAGMENT_TYPE:
         default:
             throw std::runtime_error("invalid message type");
diff --git a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.h b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.h
index b5440068b2..5126c8281d 100644
--- a/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.h
+++ b/Release/tests/functional/websockets/utilities/test_websocket_server.h
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ enum test_websocket_message_type
   WEB_SOCKET_BINARY_FRAGMENT_TYPE,
   WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_MESSAGE_TYPE,
   WEB_SOCKET_UTF8_FRAGMENT_TYPE,
-  WEB_SOCKET_CLOSE_TYPE
+  WEB_SOCKET_CLOSE_TYPE,
+  WEB_SOCKET_PONG_TYPE
 };
 
 // Interface containing details about the HTTP handshake request received by the test server.