What is Teleconference?
A teleconference is a group typing session where replies are immediate and often come from half a dozen users at once. Teleconference comments last only so long as they are on your screen.
There may be many teleconferences going simultaneously in separate channels ("rooms") on one Worldgroup Server. Users can wander from channel to channel, participating or just observing. In general, if you are able to watch a teleconference, you are welcome to participate in it.
A few participants in a large discussion may adjourn to an empty channel to have a more focused conversation away from the crowd.
Often a forum discussion blossoms into a teleconference, or vice versa. While Teleconference offers Chat mode for one-on-one exchanges within a teleconference, chat conversations don't linger either. To convey more permanent information, users can send e-mail messages.
With several dozen participants, a teleconference may seem at first to be an almost random stream of commentary:
From Nathan: A month is about the shortest time we can handle. It takes at least a week to bring new people up to speed, sometimes two.
From Kathy: If it gets sneaked in as an amendment on some funding bill, we may not be able to do anything about it.
From Stace: It's not much better out here. Even the hotel industry is getting in on the act.
From Peggy: Surely it's not that bad. I felt pretty confident in what I was doing after about three days.
From Jana: We'll handle that if it happens, but for now we need to focus on why we're different from everyone else in the industry.
From Dusty: At least sales are doing well. We're quite popular with overseas tourists right now.
From Jana: On behalf of the hotel industry, I'd just like to say that we're trying our best to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
From Phil: That's why you've been here two years now, Peggy.
From Nathan: It's a small step, but the volunteer program is one of the best ways we have to get the word out. And there are a number of other steps we can take, if Washington takes a harsher stance.
With only a few participants, a teleconference looks very much like the script for a play:
From Theresa: About 5 years old, had never spoken a word before in his life.
From Annessa: You always did like a challenge.
From Theresa: For the first few minutes, he didn't look at anything. Just stared off into space. Finally I got his attention. I even held it for a few seconds. Then he faded out again.
From A.J.: That was when I got involved. Every time she'd lose the boy's attention, I'd catch it. We played him back and forth for, I don't know, must have been fifteen or twenty minutes.
From Theresa: Ann, he woke up right in front of us. The kid started babbling, actually trying to say words for the first time. His parents were in tears they were so happy. It was incredible.
From Annessa: I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the work. It means a lot when you're a part of something like that.
From A.J.: You could always come back.
From Annessa: Well, I've settled in out here. I thought about it a lot the first month or so, but this place has some nice points, too.
From Theresa: Yes, you told us about him.
With the advent of the World Wide Web and web browsers, there is a greater demand from users for browser-based chat clients. The Teleconference Java Applet and HTML-Only Version are just that. Each one allows users to chat directly from their browsers with users who are also in Client/Server Mode and terminal mode.