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Archive for the ‘How to Phweet?’ Category

Phweet Coffee Talk Cafe

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

We have a new type of Phweet. It’s a watercooler or “Coffee Talk Cafe”. How’s it different? Like all Phweets it ties the conversation to a URL. However in this case it is persistent and creates a different type of communication experience.

Have you ever..

  • needed a talking place where people can come and go? A virtual watercooler or VoiceIRC.
  • wanted to have an hangout or virtual cafe to visit for talking and chatting with friends or family?
  • worked from home and just wished you could drop in to a conversation?
  • been part of a group of experts or help desk that answer customer inquiries?
  • wanted to run a open focus group around a discussion item
  • had to manage disaster management and needed a quick point of contact?
  • invited people to talk about a topic?
  • run a 24hour talkathon?

Now you can set up your very own Phweet Coffee Talk Cafe in less than a minute. Then invite your friends and colleagues and watch the conversation grow. Each time someone joins “visits” you will get a direct notification from @phweet with the name of who joined and and you can jump into session with them. At first you will want to do this everytime. But later when others are jumping in and you are busy you may just want to skip it. From time to time you may want to promote your URL and bring new people into the conversation.

We need your feedback. Tell us how you want to use it. Help us make it better. (more…)

Testing new Phweeture – Undirected Phweets = "Coffee Talk"?

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Phweets are normally directed to a specific individual, the recipient, and the Phweet live exchange does not begin until the recipient accepts the request. We are testing a slightly different kind of Phweet exchange, that we’re calling an “Undirected Phweet” until we have a better name. An “undirected” Phweet is one that is not sent to any one in particular. It is a Phweet URL that is created and immediately made active for others to join. The URL stays active until the host (creator of the Phweet) ends it.  However, unlike normal (directed) Phweets, the “undirected” Phweet URL stays active even if the host leaves (but does not “end”) the Phweet URL. Participants may use the URL and continue their conversation even if the host is not present. All “undirected” Phweets are “public” – that is to say they do not use “d” messages.

Undirected Phweets can be started in “auto-accept” mode where any visitor to the URL is “auto-approved” and immediately joins the Phweet. The host can still “kick” them out. Otherwise, normal request/approve controls are in place, where the host must approve (once) those users that want to join, the same way it works for normal Phweets. Hosts can also create the Phweet URL with normal host acceptance controls, and then “invite” specific users to join, sort of like a “broadcast”, which essentially pre-approves those specific users, but still requires anyone else to ask to join and to be approved by the host.

Perhaps we should call these kinds of a Phweets “Coffee Talk” from the SNL skit where the Linda Richmond character would introduce a topic, such as “The Progressive Era was neither progressive nor an era” and then say “Discuss.”

This new feature is not formally launched yet, but is available for testing.  To create an “Undirected Phweet” sign in to Phweet.com and use this link: http://phweet.com/phweetup.cgi

Try it and give us some feedback about what you think this feature needs.

Dial-in to Phweet – Use Your Phone

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

You just received a Phweet and you don’t have a mic or headset available. You don’t want to decline you simply must take this talk request. Never fear.. just dial-in and make the connection. Phweet makes it easy to “dial-in” and accept calls rather than taken them on your PC. You can call in with any phone that will display an accurate callerID.

Dial-in to Phweet and use your phone or mobile Phweet Detail Step by Step with instructions.
Dial-in to Phweet Slideshow (turn ‘info on”) This is the same show below with instructions visible.

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Using Gizmo5 with Phweet

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

The TringMe flash widget makes it easy to take Phweet calls on any PC without downloading anything. In many ways it is the ultimate in convenience until you want to start hosting Phweet sessions yourself or simply want to free yourself from a headset and start using a phone. The other downside of the practicality is you may pop in and out of the Phweet session for a few moments while you invite others or even accidentally close your browser tab.

We have many more solutions and choices on the way. My first SIP share uses Gizmo5 a SIP based client that embraces open telephony that has been around almost as long as Skype. The way we use it gives it new meaning. You won’t need to add any buddies or new contacts. You will just need an account setup. Then you will find the audio quality improves and you gain new opportunities to direct calls to where you want for just a few dollars.

Gizmo5 and Phweet Detail Step by Step with instructions.
Gizmo5 and Phweet Slideshow (turn ‘info on”) This is the same show below with instructions visible.

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Using Phweet Dial-in on the iPhone

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

So you want to use Phweet on your phone? You’ve just received a Phweet notification from Twitter via SMS. A Twitter friend wants to talk to you! This set of instructions will get Phweet working on your iPhone.

iPhone and Phweet Detail Step by Step with instructions.
iPhone and Phweet Slideshow (turn ‘info on”)This is the same show below with instructions visible.

(more…)

Phweet Alpha – Flash and PopUp Blockers

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

I’m finding a higher failure rate than desired for first time users of Phweet who have popup blockers on. Many users on Firefox are using Adblocker. This simply blocks the popup flashwidget. As a result you will be dissatisfied. This is what Phweet with a call on the browser should look like! When you are ready to accept you will see this.

It will look like this after acceptance. If you do not see a page that looks like this turn off your adblocker for Phweet.com. Refresh the page. It should appear.

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Twitter Phweet and SMS – Your Smart Phweet Life

Monday, August 18th, 2008

Phweet makes it more obvious than ever that Twitter should share more on how to set up your Twitter Life. I personally have observed that Twitter only really comes alive when you are following a 100+ users maybe more. Then the next problem is even when you follow someone it doesn’t mean that they will necessarily follow you. In the end we are on Twitter to fuel the conversation. And Twitter is a wonderful signaling service.

So how do you get smart about and on Twitter? Read More (more…)

Phweet From Your Twitter Web Page

Monday, August 18th, 2008

We just took Twitter talk to a whole new level of convenience! Now you can use Phweet to escalate your exchanges on Twitter quickly to voice conversations. We’ve put a Phweet button next to every name. No numbers, nothing more required to just get talking! The credit for this idea should go directly to @cleverclogs who runs @twtooltrack and is an ace Twitter mentor!

Here’s what it looks like:


Here’s what happens. Clicking on the Phweet button opens a pre-addressed message window with the PhweetURL. Your message can be public or private. When you push send it will be sent over Twitter.

Note: If you are not yet logged into Phweet you will be asked to first. This is just like any Twitter web app. Phweet uses your Twittername and password to send updates via the API. After the first time Phweet will remember you. Any questions just @stuarthenshall. Your friend will decide when or if to accept your talk request. You are most likely to get a quick response if they recently updated or follow @ or ‘D’ replies on SMS or on a web app like Tweetdeck, Twhirl or Twitterriffic.

How to make your Twitter Phweet Smart!

My colleague David (@mrblog) developed a simple little Greasemonkey hack for Phweet. It provides an easy-to-use Phweet button- all you do is click on the icon next to the name and you start talking! No extra clicks or registration!

Currently it only works with Firefox. To install the hack in Firefox:

Now go and think about your web service and consider how quickly Phweet can bring a seamless voice activation to your users. Phweet! The whole world could be talking at the click of a button!

Phweet Support and FAQ's

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

Phweet Support and FAQ’s is up.  Thanks for all your feedback, we’ve begun to address many of your queries in there. It is work in progress and we look forward to learning about new issues and questions you may have.  And we continue to welcome your feedback.

How to Send and Accept Phweets

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Here’s a guideline that may help you send and accept Phweets.  We have tried to simplify this in 3 easy steps:

Do send a Tweet to @stuarthenshall or @phweeter on Twitter if you need any assistance or have suggestions for us.  Happy Phweeting!