Unfortunately the chat window is not all that it can be. Having and creating multiple tabs is O.K. but how often does anyone change their tabs on chat? Especially if you are doing missions solo but enter a system and are automatically thrown into a team. I for one have a Team tab but always forget to switch. I usually have the default Global chat tab open but almost never look at it. The only time I might read what is there is if I'm flying across the map in sector space and have nothing better to do than read.

Not to make comparisons but in when I played Earth&Beyond I had three different chat windows that I places side by side at the top of my screen, a global, a guild, and a local (being just that sector). That way I didn't really pay attention to the Global, but I would notice if something came up in the guild chat or the local chat and would make response in those. The only thing about that was I had to click on the appropriate chat window to respond instead of just hitting the <Enter> key.

Now, I have created and changed the filters on my chat window (which in itself is bugged and difficult to make the necessary changes). However, just because I have a specific tab for Team chat doesn't mean people in the Team actually chat with the team setting and on a mission and there aren't that many people in global to ignore anyway so why change to a team chat.

Another useful addition to chat is some type of alert that alerts you when you receive a PM in chat. I've had people PM me and I don't even notice it unless I happen to scroll up in the chat window and see a purple line. There is sooooo much unnecessary chatter on global chat its almost impossible to see posts that are made directly to you. They scroll up within a second.

i feel the same way although can we not use mic's when were in a team? That way team chat can happen during combat 2 talk tactics during a fight. Mic's can only b used for team chat though as it would b 2 annoying 2 listen in global chat

That is a good idea. However, the game servers are having trouble hosting the game as it is and adding a VOIP option would be overloading the system. I'm sure you are aware that there are VOIP chat clients out there. My fleet uses GSC. Maybe STO players should all ban together and utlize the same chat client or someone could produce a list of the most popular and people could post which one they used and their chat handle.