It also offers a relaxed opportunity to learn about a useful communication tool. A computer conference is an online discussion among a group of people. Then, conference participants read the item text at their leisure and add their own responses to continue the discussion. The original Confer was written at the University of Michigan by Bob Parnes, now of Advertel Communication Systems, Inc., and has been in use for over 20 years on this and other campuses. It's a good way to meet people with similar interests that you would not ordinarily meet in person.
Participants can communicate with each other from wherever they are and whenever they please.
Multiple topics can be discussed simultaneously with multiple participants. Participation can be tailored for individual convenience and flexibility. Confer is an excellent way to have discussions from your computer, or indeed any networked machine on campus. Easy to Learn Confer U is easy to learn and can be accessed from any computer that is connected to the campus network, such as the computers at the Campus Computing Sites. Although it is a powerful system and provides a lot of features, you really only need to know three or four commands to do basic conferencing.