Processes of Collaboration and Communication in Desktop Videoconferencing: Do They Differ From Face-to-Face Interactions?

The impact of desktop videoconferencing (DVC) upon interpersonal communication are explored to determine if this communicative context affects the processes required for effective communication. Twenty undergraduate participants acted as Clients during a stimulated service encounter (The Travel Game) in one of two contexts, DVC or face-to-face. The content and structure of the interactions are examined using Conversational Games Analysis. The results of the analysis show that participants in the DVC and face-to-face contexts interacted and collaborated in different ways. In the DVC dialogues participants elicited a greater amount of listener feedback (Align Games), offered more information about the task and their activities (Explain Games), and sought more information by asking a greater number of yes-no questions (Query-yn Games). These results are discussed within the framework of a collaborative model of communication.