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This information was last updated on March 29, 2001

A companion piece to Using Real-Time Communications in Virtual Volunteering

Please note that the Virtual Volunteering Project in no way endorses the following tools; descriptions come from the vendors themselves.

"Free" Services

There are a growing number of free services that allow for real-time communications. However, these services come with limitations: often, you cannot have a private, secured discussion using these services; you are limited in the number of people who can participate, the number of posts that can be made, or the number of meetings you can have; or your e-mail address becomes part of the company's mailing list for product announcements and ads from other companies. Please read about these services carefully before you use them!

Both America Online and Yahoo! offer free pager/chat applications. To use America Online, all of your participants must be AOL subscribers, but the software is operational for both Mactintosh and IBM/clone PCs. The Yahoo! product is available in a Java version, meaning that it can run under Windows, UNIX, the Macintosh OS or any other operating system that is Java enabled.

Another free option is eCircles.com. It provides a forum for a relatively small group to communicate over long distances. It's free services include chat rooms, file sharing, photo sharing, discussion boards and discussion lists.

Other Services

These aren't free, but they provide more services and security than the above. These services include:

AtChat
A person to person chat client, with fast, private chat, file transfer, and group chat features.

Enhanced CU-SeeMe
Color multi-point videoconferencing over IP supporting all connection speeds. Includes video, audio, chat and shared whiteboard capabilities.

HoneyCom
Video conferencing software that allows up to eight people to connect together at one time. Support for video & voice, FTP and text chat.

IChat
Contact any number of friends and associates and bring them all to a private chat room for group discussions

ICQ
User-friendly Internet program that tells you who's online at all times. Winner Cream of The Crop for June 1997

Internet Phone
Two way real-time voice chat in Half & Full Duplex with users list to choose.

Internet Talk
Allows you to communicate in real time with other Internet users around the world. Makes use of well established Unix talk protocols. Crammed full of useful features, including an automatic call answering service, call logging, and multiple file transferral and conversation sessions.

IRIS Phone
a real-time Internet telephone which lets you talk as a conventional telephone over the Internet without incurring long distance charges. Full-duplex, can record conversations, has a "white pages" Caller ID, and answering machine, call waiting, text chat capability and more. Supports video up to 5fps on a 28.8 connection.

Microsoft NetMeeting
Enables real-time voice and data communications over the Internet. This includes the ability for two or more people to share applications, transfer files, view and illustrate a shared whiteboard, and chat all over standard connections.

NetPopup
realtime way to send messages in Internet or TCP/IP-network. Messages are sent directly, using multithreading, to other computer(s)without an e-mail server.

OnLive! Talker
Allows groups of people to talk with their own voices while viewing existing Web content. Lets users join communities of interest right on their favorite Web pages using their own voices. Can work as a Plug-In for either Netscape (2.01 or later) or Microsoft's Internet Explorer (3.0 or later).

Pagoo
with a toll free call, people can page you with a voice or text message, right on your desktop. Totally supported by its advertisers (one advertisement a day) so you don't pay a penny. Now includes email counter.

PeopleLink
Basic online chat service with send and receive messages only. Clean, easy to use interface makes use stress free. Program advertiser supported, so you don't pay a penny.

PowerLine Client/Server
Additional Software Needed (Java Runtime). Intranet/Internet group communication system featuring text chat, private messages, internal mail notes, video whiteboard, file transfer, Internet E-Mail send, infinite simultaneous public and private conferences, and more.

Rendezvous
a real-time collaboration software tool that integrates a full-featured whiteboard and text-based communications over the Internet/Intranet. While you chat, you can draw simultaneously on a common canvas, and exchange files and screen snapshots with participants. Includes an excellent shared whiteboard, allowing you to chat with colleague(s) and view/edit the same graphic image in real time with a full range of drawing & markup tools. Various user functions similar to IRC are available.

TecApro TecaCom
An Internet communication program that allows real-time voice chat, file transfer, remote control of DOS applications and text chat. All this simultaneously and with compression and encryption capabilities.

VoxPhone
Excellent voice chat utility. Very good quality on conversations, with little or no lag or skipping.

vPager
Internet email enabled desktop pager. Allows for simple messages to be sent right to your desktop and popup to let you know.

Web Phone
IRC program in the tradition of Internet Phone, with a different, phone console-type interface.

WinTalk
Text-based person to person client made simple.