I wish there was a voice chat...

[NothingButLove]

I wish ALSforums had a voice chat feature. There's a service called Discord that allows people to chat in large groups. It's mostly used by gamers. If ALSforums setup a discord server and only gave access to subscribed members, I would subscribe in a heart beat. Setting up a discord server is free and easy. I probably could have avoided my call to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline a couple of weeks ago. (HHOS) Not to worry... When the girl asked me if I was thinking about committing suicide, I said, "No. I've never been more concerned with my health and well being. I have to stay alive to take care of my wife."

 

[affected]

I have spoken by phone with a number of CALS from here over the years. They all exclaim about my accent and I'm like "what accent????" :lol:

seriously though a chat feature could be a nice add on, sometimes it's truly a life-saver to talk with someone for a few minutes

 

[Firefighter58]

It would be fine for those that can talk,
Al

 

[NothingButLove]

Al - Discord simultaneously has a voice chat and a text chat. Kinda like Skype but way better. That's to say, it was designed from the ground up to host multiple people.

I'm super busy today: NP001 trials, DME bringing over Trilogy and MDA support group meeting. But tomorrow, I'll post a link to my Discord server and anyone who wants to can try it out.

Rob

 

[JimInVA]

I regularly use both Discord and TeamSpeak for gaming related voice chat with friends that I have from all around the world. It certainly adds an entirely new level of camaraderie...

Jim

 

[GregK]

so you want to set up a chat server and justify it as suicide prevention?

What a great way to open the site up to lawsuits!

Nope, IMHO: horrible idea.

 

[lgelb]

Hi Rob,
Sorry you are getting flamed on this. My concern w/ a Discord server would be the limited time we have to herd the cats in terms of managing membership given the gamesters we deal with already, and keeping things clean.

More fundamentally to your point, whether it's PMing someone to get on email, chat, Skype, Facetime, whatever, those options exist here -- you can always talk to people who understand. Please reach out the next time you are overwhelmed.

Best,
Laurie

 

[KimT]

Rob,

I think it's a great idea. I developed and taught online courses and used a variety of platforms to communicate with disabled students....that's why I ended up with two iPads, an iMac, a PC, and a laptop. I was technologically tied to my students....with excellent results.

 

[NothingButLove]

Laurie - I can understand the need to make it manageable and keeping it clean. I thought maybe if it was only available to forum subscribers, it would take care of both those issues. There's no way you could make it available to general forum members. It would soon become the "Do I have ALS" chat server. If ALSforums ever decided to add a chat server, I would be happy to donate my time as a moderator.

JimInVA - I use it for gaming too! Also, I like to hang out with my nephew and his friends. My brother and I play CS GO all the time.

Rob

 

[lgelb]

Rob, I did understand you proposed limiting it to members (surely not subscribers, since that's a money thing), but it would be cumbersome to send those direct invite links outside the Forums and even in our "private thread," I'd envision non-members would learn of it. Then we'd have to cull and refuse their attempts to join. Maybe I'm just a pessimist.

 

[Firefighter58]

Most of us PALS type too slow to take part in any online conversation.
Al