You can chat with other Groove workspace members and contacts using:

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• Text chat

• Audio chat

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To access chat in a workspace, do one of the following in the Workspace Members panel:

• Click the Chat button to expand or collapse the chat area in the panel:
• Click the New Window button to open a new chat window:

Creating a new text chat entry

To create a new text chat entry, type in the text-entry field and press ENTER.

 Tip   You can open the Spell Checker to scan for and fix spelling errors before you press ENTER to record a chat entry. Click:

Using rich-text features in the text chat editor

The text chat editor supports rich text features, such as text formatting, hyperlinks, and graphic images. These features are available only while you're typing in the text-entry field. You cannot edit a chat entry once it appears in the chat display window. Right-click in the chat text-entry field to see formatting options or select options in the toolbar.

Using ink chat features

Right-click in the text-entry field to see menu options for switching between basic text mode and ink mode. Ink mode lets you draw chat entries by dragging with the mouse, and provides options for styling and editing these entries.

 Note   Changing the chat editing mode automatically deletes any content you currently have in the chat text-entry field.

The right click menu (and toolbar options in a Chat window or Chat workspace) correspond to the current editing mode. If you have Text mode selected, you see the standard editing options you see in all rich-text tools in Groove. If you have Ink mode selected, you see the following editing options:

• Pen. Draw with the pen in the text-entry field.
• Erase. Erase a drawn object (or part of a drawn object) by dragging.
• Zap. Erase an entire drawn object at once by dragging.
• Lasso. Select and edit a drawn object. To select the object, drag a circle around the object. You can then move or resize the drawn object just as you would in a Sketchpad tool. You can also change the color and thickness of the drawn object by selecting from the Select Color and Ink Thickness tools.
• Select Color. Select a new color for a selected drawn object or for subsequent drawn objects.
• Ink Thickness. Select a different thickness for a selected drawn object or for subsequent drawn objects.

Using audio-chat features

If you and other members of a workspace have a microphone connected to your computers, you can use audio chat features. There are two audio-chatting modes:

• One to all mode. In this mode, the current speaker has first broadcasting privileges. Workspace members can start talking while another member talks, but their voice entries will be delayed until the current speaker finishes. There is no menu option for One to all mode. This is the standard audio-chat mode unless you enable Conference mode.
• Conference mode. In this mode, all workspace members who have enabled this mode can speak simultaneously. Other members are listeners. To enable (or disable) Conference mode, click the Options drop-down button and select Chat-Conference Mode.

To use audio-chat, click the Microphone button and start speaking. A message window opens that shows an audio signal bar that responds to your voice:

If you've enabled Conference mode, the audio message window and audio "channel" stays open until you click Stop. If you're using "One-to-all" mode, the audio "channel" stays open as long as you continue talking or until you stop talking for at least 5 seconds.

 Note   The first time you try to talk using Groove, the Audio Tuning wizard runs (if necessary) to help you adjust your system's audio settings so that you can use the Talk feature most effectively.

Getting status information about chatters

Groove can notify you about who's currently typing a chat entry or using audio chat.

While another workspace member is typing, a status message displays under the title bar with the name of person typing the entry.

While another workspace member is talking, a text balloon automatically displays to tell you who's talking. You can also point at the microphone to display a text window that tells you who's talking.

Searching in a chat

To search in a chat, right-click anywhere in the chat window (or chat area in the Workspace Members pane) and select Chat-Find in Transcript. Type a search string in the Find dialog box and click Find Next.

Printing a chat transcript

To print a chat, right-click anywhere in the chat window (or chat area in the Workspace Members pane) and select Chat-Print Transcript.

Deleting a chat transcript

Some chats become lengthy and thus you might want to occasionally delete the chat transcript area to start over. To delete a chat transcript, right-click anywhere in the chat window (or chat area in the Workspace Members pane) and click Delete Transcript on the Chat menu.

Undoing or redoing a chat entry

You can undo or redo keystrokes that your typing in a chat entry by selecting Chat-Undo (CTRL-Z) or Chat-Redo (CTRL-Y). However, you cannot undo or redo chat entries once you've entered them, and they appear in the transcript.