Coffeelink News Server also allows access to newsgroups to be limited to only certain users. For example, access to a newsgroup for a project can be restricted to only those employees assigned to that project. Or an announcement newsgroup can be set up with unrestricted read access to everyone but with only certain individuals allowed to post to that newsgroup. People love to communicate. They enjoy discussing topics with others who share a common interest.
Web sites are great for making the initial contact with a customer.
But to build customer loyalty, companies need to build a thriving online community. Many companies use email based mailing lists to build this sense of community. Mailing lists are easy because customers already know how to use email. But mailing lists ultimately fail because they fill each customer's in box with constant chatter. Web based forums are easy because they operate entirely in the browser.