Jump to the following topics:

1. Advantages and disadvantages of chat.
2. Features of a chat. 
3. Managing a chat.  
4. Resources.    

Advantages and disadvantages of chat.  

1. Advantages.
   • We can have meetings with clients (individually or in groups).
   • We can offer tech support. In a group situation, we can answer common questions for everyone at once -- and the participants can answer one another's questions.
   • We can get feedback regarding our products and services. The complaints help to point out problems to us; the compliments can be used as testimonials.
   • We can teach a class in a subject which is related to our products or services.
   • We can create a sense of community through the interaction of our visitors.
2. Disadvantages.
   • The chat requires our time. Unlike message boards, a chat requires our constant attention; an unmonitored chat can degenerate into a display of profanity, vacuous chit-chat, libelous insults (against us or other companies), and other conversation with is nonproductive and embarrassing. (Instead of leaving the chat open 24/7, we can schedule a specific time when we will be there -- perhaps 30 minutes per day.)

Features of a chat.  

1. Cost. There are many companies which will put a chat onto our site for free.
2. Tech support. By phone or email. Quick response? 24x7?
3. Ease of use.
4. Ability to customize. We might be able to customize the chat board with our choice of colors, graphics, and backgrounds.
5. Requirement for Java. For some chat boards, the users must have Java; this requirement will exclude people who do not have Java capability on their browser.
6. Maximum number of participants. Some chat software permits only a limited number of people to be in the chat area at any given time; for example, the limit might be 25 or 100 people.
7. Profanity-blocking. Some chats block designated words.

Managing a chat.  

1. We can announce our schedule.
   • As mentioned previously, we need to be present so that that the chat is not dominated by disruptive people. When we cannot be present, we can disable the chat, or we can ask volunteers or our employees to monitor the conversations.
   • We can announce a schedule of the upcoming chats on our web site. For example, we might say, "The next chat will occur on Tuesday, April 5, at 7 p.m. EST."
2. We can identify ourselves, so that imposters do not present themselves as us. Some chats reveal "user info" (including the IP number of each user); if we put our IP number onto the webpage, people can verify that the person who claims to be us has that IP number.
3. We can invite special participants. For example, we might invite an expert who is associated with our goods or services.
4. We can archive the transcripts (or excerpts) for people who are not able to attend a chat.
5. We can use a 3-dimensional environment. Most chat areas have text only. But some chat areas depict a 3-dimensional home where visitors can wander from room to room, to chat with other guests. Each person is represented on the screen by an "avatar," which has the appearance of the human being of our choice. (I haven't visited this type of chat area, but I imagine that the 3D environment is comparable to that of Wolfenstein, Doom, and other 3D games.)
6. We can put the commonly recurring questions into a FAQ, so that we will not have to answer those same questions repeatedly.
7. We can have two or more boards. For example, our business might sell ski equipment and ice skating equipment; we can provide a chat for each sport.

Resources.   

1. A chat provider. Some companies will put a chat onto our site at no expense, or they will provide a chat area for us on their own website. (The companies earn a profit by putting their own ad onto the chat board.) Some providers include:
   • 321website. 
   • Beseen. 
   • Chatplanet.  
   • Parachat.  
   • TalkCity.  
2. Our web-hosting service. Some services will provide a chat for our website at no extra expense.
3. Software. We can buy a program to install on our own server.
4. IRC.
   • We can create our own permanent channel. We would always have "op" status when we are there, so that we can exclude disruptive people; however, when we are not there, a disruptive person could take control of the channel and spoil the conversation.
   • We can create a new channel for each chat. We would invent a new name for each session, and then announce it on our website; for example: "Chat tonight on undernet in channel "biz-talk-342" from 7 to 8 p.m. EST only." At the end of the session, the channel would be abandoned, so that it would not be a permanent (and unmonitored) gathering place.