New Tool for the Usability Toolbox?

I just came across Chatsum. It’s a new service that allows you to chat with other (Chatsum) users who are currently viewing the same web page as you.

Potential usability applications?
This does require Firefox (and the Chatsum download), which (1) skews the ‘natural’ participant pool and (2) could make remote testing difficult for some ‘selected’ participants. But for our internal site audits (where the presumed experts gather round a site to shred it apart) this is a great tool. We could start using this to capture site feedback, however informal, more quickly and without the need to transcribe later. Not to mention other Chatsum users (viewing the same page) would be able to join in ‘our’ conversation. And the instant messaging format gives a voice to those participants who tend to be less vocal in group settings, while still allowing for the benefits of group discussions.

While this could be used ‘closed circuit’ for sites under development, for a site that already gets a lot of traffic, this is a great way to begin a dialogue with actual customers/visitors. Or at least those using Chatsum.