I've already sent some of the users a PM discussing this, but for any other new users who are interested in participating in the Computer Hope chat I kindly request that you be part of the Computer Hope community (participate on the forums (few dozen helpful posts)) before I manually setup you an account.
Regarding the typing getting stopped while typing, I completely agree that it can be aggravating, especially if it erases what you were typing. Here are a few things that have helped me on this issue.
1. Have it running in it's own window, if in a tab section of the window seems to cause issues. Looks like the developer is aware of this issue, possibly a fix sometime in the future.
2. Check the box for "Alert of Visitors". This will alert you anytime someone visits the page (not requesting help yet), but for me has resolved the issue of loosing the chat window/chat text.