[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] On the 5th, Kakao introduced a new voice chat feature called ‘Voice Room’ in KakaoTalk Open Chat.
Launched in August 2015, Open Chat is a service within KakaoTalk that allows users to freely communicate with non-acquaintances based on shared interests or hobbies. Users can join chats by searching for public chat rooms or through links.
With the newly added Voice Room, users can now enjoy not only text-based conversations but also voice chats in Open Chat, enabling more vivid communication among people with similar interests.
In particular, by utilizing the PIP (Picture-in-Picture) feature, users can conduct voice conversations and text chats simultaneously, which is expected to facilitate more efficient communication during discussions or information sharing on specific topics.
‘Voice Room’ can be created by the host and co-host in group Open Chat rooms and supports up to 1,500 participants. It can be opened by clicking the + button to the left of the chat input box and selecting ‘Voice Room.’ Users who want to join the Voice Room can enter by clicking the ‘Join’ button in the top notice.
Participants in the Voice Room are divided into three roles: host (host & co-host), speaker, and listener. Up to 10 hosts and speakers can conduct conversations within the Voice Room. Hosts have the authority to approve speaker requests and can replace speakers according to the flow of the conversation.
Additionally, users can search for ongoing Voice Rooms on the Open Chat home and join voice conversations on topics of interest. It is also possible to invite others by sharing links. To facilitate smooth communication, a Voice Room scheduling feature is provided, and background playback is supported, allowing users to use other apps or turn off the screen while staying connected to the Voice Room.
A Kakao representative said, “With the addition of voice chat to Open Chat, participation in Open Chat based on non-acquaintances is expected to become more active,” and added, “We will continue to consider ways to provide an expanded communication experience through KakaoTalk.”
Meanwhile, Kakao is introducing exit and report functions for Voice Rooms to maintain a clean service environment. If users report inappropriate Voice Room titles or content, sanctions will be applied accordingly.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
