Roger Wilco is a Voice over IP

Voice over IP

Voice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...

 application

Application software

Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...

 used by multiplayer video game players

Player (game)

A player of a game is a participant therein. The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in game theory and in ordinary recreational games....

, usually in combination with a headset

Headphones

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...

. The name is derived from a common voice procedure in two-way radio. Roger stands for "I understand what you just said" and wilco is short for "will comply". A version for the Mac is currently in development, but developers have "no idea when it will be made publicly available", citing "obstacles the alpha is encountering". The software provides gamers the benefit of not having to communicate by typing, allowing them better control over their games. The software also works outside of games. It is similar in function to programs like TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak is a proprietary Voice over IP software that allows users to speak on a chat channel with other users, much like a telephone conference call. A TeamSpeak user will often wear a headset with an integrated microphone...

, Ventrilo

Ventrilo

Ventrilo is a proprietary VoIP software which includes text chat.The Ventrilo client and server are both available as freeware for use with fewer than 8 people on the same server . The server software is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or Unix variants such as Linux, Kopi, Solaris,...

, and Mumble

Mumble (computer software)

Mumble is a voice over IP application primarily designed for use by gamers, similar to programs such as TeamSpeak and Ventrilo.Mumble uses a client–server architecture where users who want to talk connect to the same server. It has a very simple administrative interface and most of the engineering...

.

It was originally created by Resounding Technology, Inc., a company that merged with HearMe, Inc., owner of MPlayer.com

MPlayer.com

Mplayer, referred to as Mplayer.com by 1998, was a free online PC gaming service and community that operated from late 1996 until early 2001. The service at its peak was host to a community of more than 20 million visitors each month and offered more than 100 games...

, in October 1999.
GameSpy

GameSpy

GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...

 bought the source code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 in December 2000 and added an improved version of the program to their GameSpy Arcade

GameSpy Arcade

GameSpy Arcade is a shareware multiplayer game server browsing utility. GameSpy Arcade allows players to view and connect to available multiplayer games, and chat with other users of the service. It was initially released by GameSpy Industries, a division of IGN Entertainment, in early 2000, to...

software in early 2001. The application was freeware prior to the purchase by GameSpy, the software now requires a subscription in a bundle with GameSpy's tools.