Voice Chat in Online Gaming - What Should Parents Be Aware of?

Many parents say that their kids spend most of their time playing video games. Some think that this is a typical adolescent behavior that will pass once they mature. About 41 % of teen boys and 20 % of adolescent girls use voice chat when engaging in online gaming. However, parents should keep an eye on their teen's gaming behavior and set reasonable limits to avoid cases of lack of sleep or a drop in school performance. Read on to understand more about voice chat in online gaming.

Why Do Today's Teenagers Love To Use Voice Chat in Online Gaming?

Many teenagers love the idea of using voice chat since it makes them have an exhilarating gaming experience. Below are the main reasons why teens enjoy using voice chat when playing online games.

• It Fosters a Collaborative Game Play. Integrating voice chat into video games helps create a collaborative and interactive type of gameplay. It does not matter whether you prefer playing adventure, puzzle, action, or real-time strategy games, the use of voice chats in online learning gives gamers the ability to create challenges of greater difficulty and solve them as a team. Also, voice chats increase the competition level among players as they compete against one another.
• Allows You to Enjoy a More Personalized Gaming Experience. Voice chat integrations play a great role in creating a more personalized gaming experience for teens. They allow the players to come up with their strategies for winning the game. Playing game missions on your own is not as interesting as teaming up with other gamers to complete the challenges.
• Diverse Capabilities. You can incorporate voice chat in a range of video games. Voice chat allows you to improve your multiplayer game development. You can also use voice chat with both Android and iOS devices.

What Popular Voice Chat Apps Are Used by Today's Teens?

Online gaming incorporated with voice chat fosters interaction between groups of people. What's the best part? It expands the fun of gaming and adds a social component to the entire experience. Here are some of the popular voice chat apps that today's teens use.

1. Mumble

Mumble provides gamers with a low latency, high-quality voice, and echo cancellations. The best part is that it runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android devices. It comes with an in-game overlay that shows users who are talking. The open-source software is free of charge. To install mumble on your device, you have to host the server app.

2. TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak is an advanced voice chat app that allows a group of online gamers to communicate and share information via the internet. The application is compatible with Android, PC, and macOS devices. The online voice chat lets you speak with other players and facilitate online events with ease.

3. C3

C3 is primarily built to serve as a communication platform for online gamers. The app has a good audio quality and comes with easy-to-use features, such as text-to-voice. Users can manage and create channels within the software. C3 gives players the flexibility of controlling their gaming experience the way they want.

4. Ventrilo

Ventrilo offers surround sound positioning, and it allows up to eight gamers on the same server. When setting up the app on your device, version 4.0 comes with a more user control functionality making it ideal for gamers.

5. Discord

Discord has made voice chat in online gaming easy and more enjoyable. It offers a wide array of chat options; it has an approachable chat user interface and attracts more than 14 million people every day. You can use also this chat application to find other players.

What Should Parents Be Aware of About Voice Chat in Online Gaming?

Parents should monitor their children when they are using voice chat because of the following reasons:

• Your Kid May Hear Profanity and Other Unwanted Language: Some players use swearing words when communicating with other gamers via voice chat. Exposure to swear words can influence your kid's choice of words.
• Privacy Problems: Parents should emphasize their kids to avoid creating usernames that are derivatives of their real names. Also, the usernames should not reveal any personal information. The nature of online gaming allows cybercriminals to manipulate information and use them for malicious reasons. Whenever your kid is using voice chat apps, they should never give away sensitive information to other players.
• Online Predators: Kids who like to play online should be on the lookout for online predators. They are older gamers who have the intention of luring and grooming younger online gamers. If you are not keen on the activities your kid does, they could end up being sexually exploited or cyberbullies might take advantage of them.

How Can Parents Protect Their Children From the Possible Dangers of Voice Chatting?

Voice chatting in online gaming has potential dangers that can negatively affect your children when they are playing online. While there are many dangers in the online gaming world, you can protect your child when they are using voice chat apps. Below are some tips to help you keep your kids safe when they are playing online and using video chat apps.

- Build Trust With Your Child

Talking to your child about the dangers of using voice chat when they are playing online games is a good idea. Make sure you tell them to apply online safety measures when they are playing with strangers.

- Talk to Them About Voice Masking Technology

Most of the people who like using voice masking technology are predators. They like to hide their identity and pretend they are someone else. These predators use online gaming to lure and groom their victims. Tell your kid to be careful when using video chat and playing online games, as this is one of their favorite places where they find their victims.

- Monitoring and Reporting Systems

Most games use artificial intelligence (AI) moderation systems to identify or filter inappropriate chats for kids. They also come with reporting systems that let players report anyone who behaves abusively. This feature is effective once you activate it in the settings section.

- Play Games with Your Children

You should play online video games with your kids. Doing this will allow you to get closer to them and learn more about who they play and talk to online.

- Avoid Opening Suspicious Links

Parents should advise their children to avoid opening links that anyone sends them. It is not easy for them to know which link is a scam or where it points. Links from strangers can compromise your child's gaming account and also steal their credentials.

- Never Share Account information

Explain to your child the impacts of sharing their account information. Children's accounts may contain valuable personal account information that someone can use in fraudulent activities. Some of the information that your kids provide may be tied to a credit card. To avoid being exposed to online predators, they should never give out any personal information. Most cybercriminals hack your child's account and trick them into revealing such vital information.

- Use FamiSafe

The technology surge has dramatically changed the mundane life into a world where privacy is not a secret anymore. FamiSafe has come with a solution for parents who would like to keep their kids when they are using video chat in online gaming. With that being said, let's take a look at the useful features that FamiSafe offers:

• Phone Activity Timeline: Knowing what your kids are doing with their devices when you are not around is crucial. FamiSafe has a feature that allows you to track everything your kids do with their devices. essentially, you'll know which apps they use and the websites they visit.
• Receive Alerts for Any Suspicious Signs: You can add suspicious words on the app; FamiSafe will send you alerts when your kid sends or receives any suspicious message on their device. The app allows you to know who they are talking to and what they are saying.
• App Blocking Feature: If you want your kids to focus on study, you can use this feature to remotely block games and video chat apps. In turn, this will reduce their obsession with these apps, which can lead to depression and attention problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

While voice chat has made online gaming more exciting, it also comes with risks. Online predators could target your kids, or they might access inappropriate content. Luckily, there are a few practical steps that you can take to protect your child from the possible risks that come with voice chatting. FamiSafe ensures you raise your child appropriately and keep them safe online.