Forums and similar message areas were one of the first major features of the commercial online services of CompuServe, Prodigy, Delphi and America Online. Bulletin boards were often PC-based through dialup modem access. The USENet newsgroups are some of the oldest and most popular means of public discussion groups on the Internet. Unlike verbal conversations, computer-based chat involves conversations by typing. Chat can also be in large public settings where participants can enter or leave at any time.
Most online services have a chat or conference option included in their client software.
There are several chat systems available for use on the Internet. WebCT includes a chat section consisting of four individual rooms for each course, a general chat area for the course and general chat for all courses. WebCT chat supports primarily public chat even though private chat is available. The client is the computer that asks for access to data, software, or services. E-mail or electronic mail, is now one of the more ubiquitous forms of communication across computer networks and the Internet.