TeamSpeak - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TeamSpeak is a proprietary

Proprietary software

Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...

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...

software that allows users to speak on a chat channel with other users, much like a telephone conference call

Conference call

A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party...

. A TeamSpeak user will often wear 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...

with an integrated microphone

Microphone

A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...

. Users use the TeamSpeak client software to connect to a TeamSpeak server of their choice, from there they can join chat channels.

The target audience for TeamSpeak is gamer

Gamer

Historically, the term "gamer" usually referred to someone who played role-playing games and wargames. Since they became very popular, the term has included players of video games...

s, who can use the software to communicate with other players on the same team of a multiplayer game

Multiplayer game

A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...

. Communicating by voice gives a competitive advantage by allowing players to keep their hands on the controls.

Server

The TeamSpeak server currently supports Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

and Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

and uses a web based or telnet

TELNET

Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...

interface to control server administration and settings. The server runs as a dedicated server separate from the client.

TeamSpeak 2 supports virtual server

Virtual server

Virtual server may refer to:* Virtual private server, a method of server hosting using virtual machines.* Virtual hosting, a method that servers such as webservers use to host more than one domain name on the same computer....

instancing. This allows up to 75 server instances to be contained in one process on the server. Additional server processes can be run to increase this further.

User types

When logging into the web server there are two types of accounts that can be given access to the administrative interface: Server Admins and Super Server Admins. Super Server Admins have full access to all virtual TeamSpeak servers hosted on that server instance (more than one server instance can run on one physical server). Server Admins are limited to the virtual server

Virtual server

their account is associated with.

Permissions

The permissions system received a massive upgrade from TeamSpeak 2 to TeamSpeak 3. From originally being limited to just six groups (Server Admin, Channel Admin, Operator, Voiced, Registered and Anonymous), a server operator is now able to create an unlimited amount of his or her own permission groups from an extensive selection of permissions.

Licensing

The TeamSpeak 3 EULA for the server allows private hosts to create their own server for free as long as the maximum number of servers and slot counts configured on each server does not exceed any one of the following configurations:

Non-profit license (Unregistered), 1 virtual server not exceeding 32 slots
Non-profit license (Registered), 10 virtual servers, 512 slots overall

If the server operator is generating profit from TeamSpeak then the host must register for a "Commercial License for ATHPs" (billed monthly) with TeamSpeak's official sales & licensing provider Triton CI & Associates, Inc.

Commercial entities who are not gaining profit from TeamSpeak itself, but use TeamSpeak as a means to conduct business must obtain a "Commercial License: Annual Activation" (billed annually) with TeamSpeak's official sales & licensing provider Triton CI & Associates, Inc.

Typically issued to commercial entities, the "SDK Integration License" is a license which may require a one-time fee, recurring fees, or other pre-determined fees. It is used for persons wishing to utilize TeamSpeak software to create customized or integrated applications as part of an existing product or service.

Legal Intercept

TeamSpeak 2 lacks any form of Lawful interception

Lawful interception

Lawful interception is obtaining communications network data pursuant to lawful authority for the purpose of analysis or evidence. Such data generally consist of signalling or network management information or, in fewer instances, the content of the communications...

. This may make the service unsuitable for some hosting providers, depending on local legal requirements.

Client

The TeamSpeak client is used to modify some server settings such as creation and deletion of channels and registration of users. However, the client is primarily used for its voice chat function. The client is able to join servers by connecting to a specified IP address

IP address

An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...

or using its built in server browser. The server browser is able to quickly find the desired server by using multiple filters to locate the destination server or reduce the total number of displayed servers.

Channels

From the client an infinite number of channels can be created if server permissions permit the user to create channels. There are four different types of channels: Temporary, Semi-Permanent, Permanent, and Default. Each of those channels can have different characteristics such as moderation and sound quality.

A temporary channel will automatically be deleted once it has zero occupants. A semi-permanent channel will remain with zero occupants, but it will not be saved in a server restart. A permanent channel will be saved indefinitely -- until it is deleted by someone who has permissions to do so. The default channel is automatically permanent, and it is the channel that users will enter when they join the server.

Moderated channels

Moderated channels give the channel admin more control over their channel than any other type of channel. In moderated channels the channel operator or an admin has to grant any users that enter the channel voice privileges before they can speak on the channel.

Sub-channels

Sub-channels are part of a hierarchy system with other channels. A sub-channel can exist within another sub-channel.

Registration of users

Users can be registered for pseudo-servers from either the client or from the telnet

TELNET

Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...

interface.

Third party add-ons

Via the official site of TeamSpeak, third party applications are available for download. The common features that these applications provide are TeamSpeak in-game overlay

Overlay

Overlay may refer to:*Overlay architecture, term used to describe ‘event architecture’ and relates to the temporary elements that supplement existing buildings and infrastructure to enable the operation of major sporting events or festivals....

(for client

Client (computing)

A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....

) and server listings and advanced management (for server

Server (computing)

In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

TeamSpeak 3

The current version of TeamSpeak has been in development since 2004.
It is a complete rewrite with many new features, but has had infrequent updates on the development blog, and was first estimated to be released in mid 2006. The first public release of the TeamSpeak 3 SDK was on June 5, 2008, with the integrated solution in the MMO game Vendetta Online
Vendetta Online
Vendetta Online is a twitch-based, science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Guild Software for the operating systems Android, Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows...

.
Open beta for TeamSpeak 3 released on December 19, 2009. . Open beta was closed on August 10, 2011 and replaced with Teamspeak 3.0.0 Final, which is the first stable release of Teamspeak 3. .

TeamSpeak 3 Updates

TeamSpeak 3 uses an improved update system that updates only the files necessary which means faster updates without needing to redownload the entire program or 'Application'.

In popular culture

TeamSpeak was mentioned numerous times within South Park

South Park

South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

's episode titled "Make Love, Not Warcraft

Make Love, Not Warcraft

"Make Love, Not Warcraft" is the eighth episode of the tenth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 147th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 4, 2006. In the episode, Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny enjoy playing the popular...

" which aired October 4th 2006 on Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....