The phenomenon known as the "chat room" continues its evolution as a unique and controversial medium attracting billions of participant's worldwide.

Tom Spring of IDG reported in September, that according to Forrester Research, among North American online households, 16 percent participate in online chats at least once a week.

Last October a new element was added to the chat room with the arrival of actual voice communication. Associated Press reported on Oct. 18, 1999, that by using technology developed by Mountain View-based HearMe Inc., Internet users with a computer microphone and speakers could participate in vocal chats on Yahoo.

It further reported that along with Yahoo, HearMe had also provided similar voice capability for chat rooms on E! Online, Teen.com and the St.Peteresburg Times.

In March, Erica D. Rowell reported in ABCNEWS.com that Cahoots launched its interactive Web communications software that works on top of a Web browser and "provides instant messaging between groups or individuals, bulletin board posts, and oral chats. It even allows talking long-distance for free, as long as the recipient has the correct hardware and software to hear you."

The only drawback to live voice is that it requires a lot of bandwidth. Without the proper hardware to support it, it can be a slow and frustrating form of communication and more of a headache than it's worth. This is changing and will no doubt make a considerable impact in the future when the technology to support it is more widespread.

Video chatting is also part of the chat room phenomenon but again it requires specific technology in order to use. One company, Eyeball.com provides video communication technologies and services for narrowband, broadband, and wireless networks. Eyeball Chat, enables Internet users to communicate face-to-face using a standard Web browser, a PC video camera, and a microphone.

There have been other new developments in the "chat room". Spring reported in his article that in MSN's chat rooms you can now download background music through a service called MSN Radio Chat. "When you're pouring on the charm in MSN's "Blind Date" chat room, a little Barry White in the background couldn't hurt, right?" Asks Spring. He reported that MSN is partnering with RadioWave.com to add 40 musical genre channels to MSN's 40 chat rooms. The company uses Windows Media Player as its underlying engine to stream music so if you use Media Player version 6.4 or greater, no download is required, he reported.

There have been other businesses emerging to cash in on the the chat room craze. Alexandra Barrett of IDG reported in September about a new venture called FrogMagic that acts as an intermediary for US chat room participants who want to send gifts. It is a way to prevent a chat room participant's privacy from being compromised.

Barrett reports that "the gift giver visits the FrogMagic site, chooses the gift, and pays for it. FrogMagic issues a unique gift ID, which the site can send directly to the recipient by e-mail (you must provide that address). Otherwise, you can convey the gift ID to your friend through your chat room channel."

The recipient then takes the gift ID to the FrogMagic site and enters a mailing address, which remains private from the gift giver.

Besides developments in the chat room phenomenon itself, many businesses are starting to see the public relations potential of the chat room and are adding chat capability to their sites as a way to communicate with customers directly.

Rowell reported that for a monthly fee ranging from $50 to $250, depending on the level of service, companies wanting an official presence at their site can sign up for Cahoots and join the conversation communing at their sites. Rowell interviewed Gail Rice, Cahoots' vice president of corporate Communications who said, "the idea... is to structure a virtual experience along the lines of the physical one, where consumers can interact with other shoppers as well as store representatives.

If a company has a site representative, for example, the rep can provide customer support on the Web via text or voice, answering questions as people shop and expanding a real-world business practice into cyberspace."

In February Catherine Valenti reported on ABCNEWS.com that according to The Cluetrain Manifesto, a new book from high-tech industry insiders Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger , "Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance,...businesses must adapt to the quick, new forms of communication the Internet provides if they want to survive."

She cites an example from the book of a conversation from an angry owner on a Saturn newsgroup. The man had complained about being given and then charged for services he didn't ask for when he brought his car into a Saturn dealership for an oil change. Other Saturn owners who had experienced similar situations also wrote in.

The online audience was eventually addressed by a Saturn mechanic who explained the company's policy on maintenance service to the group.

Valenti further reported that by doing this, Saturn had essentially responded to the fast-moving Internet conversation but according to the book, many other businesses haven't been as successful at responding in similar situations.

She wrote, "Companies can no longer stick to their old-fashioned marketing tactics when there is a whole world of people out there having discussions about them over the Internet, the authors argue."

The convenience of the chat room has begun emerging in other sectors of society as well. Associated Press reported on June 2 that two lawyers and a judge used an America Online chat room to discuss a civil lawsuit to save time and travel expenses.

Judge James L.Kimbler of Medina County Common Pleas Court was quoted in the article as saying, '"Increasingly, parties and attorneys using this court come from outside Medina County... "Making parties and attorneys come to Medina for pretrial matters drives up the cost of litigation and is time consuming."'

Lawyer Robert J. Dubyak, of Cleveland, about 30 miles northeast of the Medina County courthouse, and lawyer John T. Murray, of Sandusky, about 40 miles northwest of Kimbler's office, participated in the private chat on AOL with Judge Kimbler.

There have been numerous stories about couples meeting and falling in love on chat rooms. There have also been stories about people establishing long lasting friendships. In Dec. 1999, ABCNEWS.com reported how Jackie Thorpe, who lives in California, and Pat Hughes, who lives in Colorado, had became old friends on the Internet, in an over-40 chat room.

Chat rooms provide a way for isolated individuals to make connections. Dianne Lynch reported on ABCNEWS.com that the Rural Womyn Zone site is a place where rural women talk to each other.

The women who participate in the chats are farmers, ranchers, writers, activists, mothers and grandmothers. They live in places like Nova Scotia, Wales, Idaho and Ireland, she reports and "they have in common a life isolated by landscape and culture."

She quoted site founder Lynda Harper, who also manages a 300-head dairy farm, who said, "It turned into a virtual kitchen table where we get together to talk, make new friends, develop ideas for the Web site, and just generally discuss a wide range of issues."

Besides the positive aspects of chat rooms, there has also been a negative elements associated with them. Because of the anonymity of the Internet individuals think they can break the law and get a way with it. The reality, however, is that everything you do online can be traced.

Calvin Woodward reported in the Associated Press in May 1999 that "armed with search warrants, police are looking into the online activities of suspects, and sometimes victims, by seizing evidence from Internet service providers and finding material that people online never dreamed would end up in the hands of the law."