Communication software is used to provide remote access to systems and exchange files and real-time messages in text, audio and/or video formats between different computers or user IDs. This includes
terminal emulatorA terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video terminal within some other display architecture....
s,
file transferFile transfer is a generic term for the act of transmitting files over a computer network or the Internet. There are numerous ways and protocols to transfer files over a network. Computers which provide a file transfer service are often called file servers...
programs, chat and
instant messagingInstant messaging is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via devices connected over a network such as the Internet.-Overview:...
programs, as well as similar functionality integrated within
MUDIn online gaming, a MUD , pronounced /mʌd/, is a multi-user real-time virtual world described entirely in text. It combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters,...
s.
E-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a
time-sharingTime-sharing is sharing a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing...
mainframe computerMainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term probably had originated from the early mainframes, as...
to communicate.
Communication software is used to provide remote access to systems and exchange files and real-time messages in text, audio and/or video formats between different computers or user IDs. This includes
terminal emulatorA terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video terminal within some other display architecture....
s,
file transferFile transfer is a generic term for the act of transmitting files over a computer network or the Internet. There are numerous ways and protocols to transfer files over a network. Computers which provide a file transfer service are often called file servers...
programs, chat and
instant messagingInstant messaging is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via devices connected over a network such as the Internet.-Overview:...
programs, as well as similar functionality integrated within
MUDIn online gaming, a MUD , pronounced /mʌd/, is a multi-user real-time virtual world described entirely in text. It combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters,...
s.
History
E-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a
time-sharingTime-sharing is sharing a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing...
mainframe computerMainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term probably had originated from the early mainframes, as...
to communicate. Basic text chat functionality has existed on
multi-userMulti-user is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows concurrent access by multiple users of a computer. Time-sharing systems are multi-user systems. Most batch processing systems for mainframe computers may also be considered "multi-user", to avoid leaving the...
computer systems and
bulletin board systemA Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s since the early 1970s. In the 1980s, a
terminal emulatorA terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a "dumb" video terminal within some other display architecture....
was a piece of software necessary to log into
mainframeMainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term probably had originated from the early mainframes, as...
s and thus access
e-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
. Prior to the rise of the Internet, computer files were exchanged over dialup lines, requiring ways to send
binary fileA binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
s over communication systems that were primarily intended for
plain textIn computing, plain text is a term used for an ordinary "unformatted" sequential file readable as textual material without much processing.The encoding has traditionally been either ASCII, one of its many derivatives such as ISO/IEC 646 etc., or sometimes EBCDIC...
; programs implementing special transfer modes were implemented using various de facto standards, most notably
KermitKermit is a computer file transfer/management protocol and a set of communications software tools primarily used in the early years of personal computing in the 1980s; it provides a consistent approach to file transfer, terminal emulation, script programming, and character set conversion across...
.
In 1985 the first decentralized chat system was created called Bitnet Relay, whereas
MinitelThe Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT...
probably provided the largest chat system at the same time. In August 1988 the
Internet Relay ChatInternet Relay Chat is a form of real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfers via Direct...
followed.
CU-SeeMeCU-SeeMe is an Internet video-conferencing client. CU-SeeMe can make point to point video calls without a server or make multi-point calls through server software first called a "reflector" and later called a "conference server" or MCU...
was the first chat system to be equipped with a
video cameraA webcam is a video capture device connected to a computer or computer network, often using a USB port or, if connected to a network, ethernet or Wi-Fi....
.
Instant messagingInstant messaging is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via devices connected over a network such as the Internet.-Overview:...
featuring a
buddy list and the notion of online
presenceIn computer and telecommunications networks, presence information is a status indicator that conveys ability and willingness of a potential communication partner--for example a user--to communicate...
was introduced by
ICQICQ is a popular instant messaging computer program, which was first developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, now owned by Time Warner's AOL subsidiary. The first version of the program was released in November 1996 and ICQ became one of the first Internet-wide instant messaging services. The...
in 1996. In the days of the
Internet boomBefore the wide spread of internetworking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the local network and the prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe computer model...
,
web chatA web chat is a system that allow users to communicate in real time using easily accessible web interfaces. It is a type of internet online chat distinguished by its simplicity and accessibility to users who do not wish to take the time to install and learn to use specialized chat software. This...
s were very popular, too.
Voice over IPVoice over Internet Protocol is a general term for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or other packet-switched networks...
is only taking off now.
Chatting
Chatting is a real-time conversation or message exchange that takes place in public or in private groupings called
rooms. It is possible to appoint moderators who will trace and block offensive comments and other kinds of abuse. Based on visual representation chats are divided into text based chat room just as were IRC and
Bitnet Relay ChatBitnet Relay or officially The Interchat Relay Network or simply Relay was a precursor to today's Internet Relay Chat and various online chat systems...
, 2D – supporting graphic smilies; and 3D the conversation in which takes place in 2D graphic surrounding.