HOME: TECHNOLOGY:
SELECT PRODUCT
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
FULL FEATURE SET
CHAT HOSTING
SCREENSHOTS
PRICING INFORMATION
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REQUEST FREE TRIAL
|
AV v5.1 Frequently Asked Questions
We take great pride in providing our customers with accurate information regarding our products. Below you will find our most frequently asked questions. If you would like to speak with a sales associate, contact us through the 'Live Help' option in the navigation bar or call (770) 391-1530.
If you have an idea of a feature for DigiChat, we would love to hear about it!
Product Information / Features
General Questions
Billing and Maintenance
Product Information / Features
What is DigiChat?
DigiChat is an advanced Java-based client/server chat program, which has been designed specifically for integration with your existing Web presence. As a Web developer, Internet provider, or corporate/educational webmaster, you will benefit from DigiChat because it is a turn-key solution and does not require that your visitors download special chat software to interact in your chat rooms. DigiChat brings a host of impressive interactive capabilities to your Web presence making it more than just a site. It becomes a living, breathing destination that your visitors will return to again and again. DigiChat will simply set you apart from other venues by offering visitors a variety of collaborative tools for one-on-one messaging, group chat and even moderated events where guest speakers or celebrities take center stage. DigiChat gives you the tools to make your site what you want it to be. Sites that incorporate chat technologies such as DigiChat create an online community that promotes site stickiness. Site stickiness is extremely important since the more time that people stay on your site, the more likely they will perform the action that you desire (buy something you offer, register for membership, etc).
On which platforms will DigiChat run?
DigiChat runs on any Java-enabled platform or browser. Windows 2000/NT/ME, Mac OS X Server, Linux and Solaris are some examples of operating systems on which DigiChat can be installed seamlessly.
Will DigiChat work with a membership database? (Single Sign-on)
Yes, DigiChat supports many parameter tags that advanced users may use to pass information from a membership database into the DigiChat Client. This is useful for maintaining access control to a site or possibly allowing members to obtain and update their personal account information. The amount of latitude you give your visitors is entirely up to you. Using almost any scripting language (Cold Fusion, Active Server Pages, PHP, or CGI), you can easily integrate DigiChat into your site's existing membership system, or set up a new membership system. We call this feature Single Sign-on since it allows your members to login to your site and instantly enter a DigiChat chatroom with their unique username and profile information (as pulled from your membership database).
I don't have my own server, how do I add DigiChat to my site?
Opening a DigiChat chat hosting account is the easiest way to add a superior chat software to your web site while ensuring the highest degree of customer support and hands-off peace of mind. A chat hosting account allows you to fully benefit from the traffic-building appeal of DigiChat without the headaches and hassles commonly associated with running and maintaining traditional Internet servers.
Does DigiChat support foreign languages?
Yes; DigiChat offers full support of English plus 18 foreign languages, and we are always adding more! Currently, we offer Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), French, Chinese (Big 5), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish, Arabic and Russian. If your preferred language is not available, please contact us to discuss how we may work together to complete new translations!
What is the DigiChat Commander?
The Commander facilitates instant access to a site for the purposes of sending commands, scripting and automating many server tasks. It offers real-time reporting of the number of sites, rooms and users on a given server, as well as a number of other highly configurable statistics. The Commander can be used to integrate DigiChat seamlessly into your Web site or Web application. You can integrate the DigiChat Commander into any number of applications (due to it's Java-based core) or servlets to remotely administer your DigiChat chat server or schedule repetitive tasks. Alternatively, incorporate DigiChat Commander into your site using a variety of server-based scripting languages (php, perl, etc.) to show real-time data or integrate with an existing membership database. DigiChat Commander is included on select licenses and dedicated server plans; please consult our pricing guides or your sales representative for details.
What is the DigiChat BOT API?
The DigiChat BOT API is used to allow end users to create their own BOTs or self contained programs that exist in a DigiChat room available for users to interact with. DigiChat comes with a full BOT API so the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Some examples of existing BOTs include: Weather BOT, users provide an zip code and the BOT will respond with the local weather report and Translation BOT, where the BOT will translate whatever text the user enters into a the language chosen by the user.
What is the DigiChat Plugin API?
The DigiChat Plugin API allows for third-party code to interact with DigiChat to provide additional features and functionality to your online community. DigiChat Plugins are called directly from the DigiChat interface and allow users to pass data to each other from within the DigiChat framework. This opens up worlds of possibilities for third party developers looking to incorporate DigiChat into a dating site or a gaming site. The possibilities are endless.
What is the Moderated Chat option?
The Moderated Chat module allows you to conduct live, auditorium style moderated chat events. Visitors may interact with a celebrity or other individual who may have specific expertise of relevance or interest to the site offering the chat room. This feature provides for the ability to conduct supervised forums where a Moderator can screen or filter incoming questions or comments to a Guest Speaker. This function equips the Moderator with additional tools, beyond those of the ChatMaster, to ensure smooth flow and appropriate conduct.
With the Moderated Chat module, you can host a celebrity chat event with your users connected from around the world, your moderated connected from his/her home and the guest speaker (or his/her representative) connected from his/her summer beach house. Full support is included for multiple Moderators or Guest Speakers. Moderated Chat is available on select DigiChat chat hosting plans and server licenses; please consult our pricing guides or your sales representative for details.
How many users can DigiChat support?
DigiChat has been benchmarked supporting thousands of users on modest hardware. There are many factors that influence the speed and load that any chat server can handle. Those factors include:
1. Hardware (Processor, RAM, Disk Subsystem)
2. Virtual Machine and Operating System
3. Available Bandwidth
DigiChat's advanced multithreaded architecture allows it to handle multiple simultaneous requests. In addition, its distributed architecture allows it to offload many tasks to the client permitting it to scale to large numbers of simultaneous connections. As with any multi-user domain environment, the more robust your server and bandwidth, the higher performance you can expect.
Will DigiChat work through firewalls and proxy servers?
All DigiChat licenses and chat hosting plans allow you to customize the ports used, providing your users access through firewalls. Additionally, DigiChat offers HTTP Tunneling functionality on select server licenses. This feature allows your chatters to use DigiChat from behind protective proxy servers. It is important that you understand the proper configuring of server ports in order for this feature to perform optimally. To ensure proper performance of DigiChat, please refer to the product documentation or consult a DigiChat support representative. NOTE: Some advanced features such as Audio chat (voice) or Video chat (web cam chat) make use of UDP ports for proper operation and as such are NOT tunnelled. Please configure your firewall so that such advanced features will work without interruption.
General Questions
Once I sign up, how long does it take for my order to be processed?
Most orders are processed within 24 hours. Exceptions may apply to orders placed after business hours or on National (USA) holidays. Additionally, should your specific needs involve professional services, customizations or installation assistance, you may expect that an appropriate amount of time may be required for our staff to ensure that your site is properly configured.
What type of customization can I do to my DigiChat chat site?
Once you purchase a license to DigiChat or open up a chat hosting account, you can fully customize your DigiChat so that it is functionally, graphically and promotionally consistent with your Web site's focus. Customizations include the ability to modify the advertisements, banners, icons, color schemes, complete skins, logos, as well as to add as many rooms as you wish, create locked rooms, create ChatMonitor administrators, and much more. Take a look at our gallery of DigiChat interfaces for examples of how DigiChat can be customized to your site. Our Professional Services Division can advise you on an array of options to customize and personalize your chat program. Speak to a sales representative for more information.
How often are upgrades made available?
DigiChat is upgraded several times a year to not only address issues of compatibility that may arise as the browsers and operating systems evolve, but also to enhance the product's performance and stay at the leading edge of chat software technology. We receive customer feedback daily requesting specific features or product enhancements. It is impossible to incorporate all requests, but we do take the most requested features and build them into subsequent product releases. If a specific unreleased feature is important to your business, consult a DigiChat sales representative about customization services available through our Professional Services Division.
Billing and Maintenance
How am I billed?
That depends upon whether you purchase a chat hosting plan or a server license. If you are a hosting customer, you will be automatically billed for your service at the start of each quarter or year (depending upon the payment option you choose). If you are purchasing a license, it is a one-time payment which includes one year of our Annual Service Plan (ASP). Our ASP (which allows for free product support, upgrades and maintenance releases) is automatically renewed each year thereafter unless you decline it.
Is there a fee for software upgrades?
Enhancements, new features, as well as, upgrades and patches to DigiChat are free of charge to all clients with a valid Annual Service Plan.
Can I keep transcripts of my chat site/rooms?
Yes, you may use the ChatMaster application or, depending upon the license you purchase, the DigiChat Commander to turn transcripts on for your site. Transcripts are pre-formatted in HTML, making it easy to post transcripts to your Web site. This feature has the benefit of streamlining the publication of chat room events that you may host and for monitoring the conduct in your online community chat rooms. It is important to understand that in our managed chat hosting environment due to the sheer volume of daily chats, we cannot store transcripts for each client indefinitely. As such, it is the customer's responsibility to routinely retrieve their site transcripts and store them. License customers face no such restrictions and you can keep transcripts as long as there is hard drive space to store them.
What technical support options are available?
We offer a range of options to resolve any DigiChat Support issues you may have as quickly and efficiently as possible. Technical assistance is available ONLY to those customers who have purchased the Annual Service Plan or have a Managed Chat Hosting Account in good standing. Unlimited technical support is available for those customers in good standing via our support chat rooms and telephone. Installation assistance and all software updates are available as well. Speak to a DigiChat sales representative for more information.
Is it possible to have features created or modified for my needs?
Yes. Through our Professional Services Division, we can work with you to develop customized functionality to specifically address your online community's specialized needs. We have worked with many of our clients to successfully develop customized features and functionality for their chat software needs. For more information on these services, please refer to our Professional Services page.
Can you provide us with installation and set-up assistance?
Absolutely! We recognize that not all organizations will have the expertise in-house to quickly and efficiently install and configure our products for the Web. Through our Professional Services Division, you may seek installation and set-up assistance, including turnkey on-site set-up, as well as product training, troubleshooting and special chat event coordination and management. For more information on these services, please refer to our Professional Services page.
