We work for a company that has over 200 retail stores in 15 different
cities in the US. We would like for the employees to be able to access
a bulletin board or chatroom from their homes in order to keep in
touch with each other and without the company (they tend to be
authoritarian and vengeful) knowing who said what. Is there a way to
set this up (or an existing service that we can use) so we can speak
our minds without fear of reprisal? |
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 13:02 PST
Dear rileybirder,
Just to make sure I am not searching in a wrong direction, please have
a look at this feature description:
"Who Can Post ? There are four options to regulate who can post (membership):
Anyone: Anyone can post to your community. No registration, no
passwords required. (...) You cannot tell who a regular is, as anyone
can post with any name."
This means, anonymous posting is possible if the administrator allows
it. Or, if that is wanted, viewing and/or posting in the boards is
subject to registration, so the circle of persons allowed to enter the
forum can be controlled.
The (extensive) basic services of this board provider are free; paid
membership includes additional features for controlling access to the
board as well as a chat option.
If this is what you need, please let me know and I will post full
information as an answer. In case it is not what you are looking for,
please let me know what you are missing so I can search for other
options.
Very best regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
rileybirder-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 13:19 PST
Yes, this is close, I just would like to have a bulletin board that is
labeled for us and would not attract kids. I don't understand how
they work. Also, is it possible to have a chatroom for a few hours
once a week. Can they be rented or something? Thanks.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 13:42 PST
I have checked the feature list and found out that you can protect
your board from unwanted visitors, such as kids:
"You have the option to make any forum you choose private and secure.
To grant access to a private forum, you can add users to an allowed
user list manually or let them enter the forums password when they
first click through to enter.
(...)
A feature related to private forums is the Invisible Forum feature.
This Gold Community [paid additional service] feature takes private
forums one-step further and hides the forum from anyone not on the
allowed user list.
With private forums - users can see the forum on the main page of the
community but when they try to enter the private forum they will
either be prompted for the password or , if they are on the allowed
user list, given instant access.
You must be logged into your account to access a private forum."
There no effective way to make sure others will never find your board;
but you can configure it in a way that keeps the doors closed for
unwanted visitors.
As for the chat: Usually, chat rooms are not rented by the hour. Once
they are set up, they can be used at any time (provided you have a
password for entering the chat room, should password protection be
enabled). This applies to the chat rooms included with the paid
membership.
All steps for setting up, customizing, and administering the boards
and chat rooms are described in a way that makes it easy also for
non-experts.
Regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
rileybirder-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 13:50 PST
This sounds good. I just want to make sure that my company could not
trace the bulletin board or chat room to the person who set it up
(me). We are not going to say anything that would harm them, but
still, they won't like it. Most of us work long hours (11-12 a day)
and have different days off. A chatroom would only work if we set it
up for a time when everybody is off, like Sunday nights. That is one
reason that I thought of the bulletin board, but a chatroom would be
better. Any help you can give would be appreciated!
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 14:17 PST
I understand your concerns. But your company would not be able to
trace back and identify you as the owner of the board. No information
on your "real" identity is displayed anywhere on the board, if you
don't want that.
Your company will not get information on who is the owner of your
board. Here is what is written in the privacy policy:
"Be assured that your personally identifiable information, such as
your name, address information, and email address is not sold to
others. (...) We may be legally required to disclose your information
if required by a subpoena or court order. If this happens, and it is
permitted by legal authorities, we will attempt to notify you at least
15 days before any disclosure."
Since you are not going to do anything illegal, your identity should
be completely safe from discovery by your company, as long as you do
not reveal it.
By the way, a chat room is permanently available, even if there is no
one to use it. Usually, chat rooms are not created for one single chat
session only. Once you have created the room, it will be there,
waiting for guests. So no matter when your colleagues have spare time,
they will always be able to enter the room (if they are allowed to).
Having both a bulletin board and a chat is a good combination, in my
opinion. So even those of your colleagues who lack the time to
participate in the chat can read and write messages in the board.
If you got the feeling that the board/chat combination (please
remember that the chat is part of the paid membership, starting at
$9.95 per month) is what you need, I will post it as an answer.
Very best regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
rileybirder-ga
on
14 Dec 2003 15:24 PST
Yes, this is what I am looking for. Thank you, I look forward to the
answer as to how to do this. You have been a big help already.
|
,
0 Comments
)