Does anyone use vidoe chat?

[ooVooMolly]

Hi, I've noticed quite a few people on here having problems with their phone deals/connections between France and the UK in particular and was wondering if anyone uses internet-based video chat on a regular basis instead of phonecalls?

I write for ooVooworld, the unofficial WOM world for the free video chat download ooVoo, and I'm interested to hear about experiences anyone has had in using or trying to use these kind of applications. Especially now you can use professional quality, 6-way video chat for free, it seems obvious that everyone living abroad with friends and family spread around would be using these downloads - but that still does not necessarily seem the case.

Would anyone mind sharing their opinions and experiences of using video chat to stay in touch from France - what they love and hate and what they'd like to see?

Thanks - Molly

[cooperlola]

I don't use video chat, but I do use MSN which is great.  I'm not sure I'd want to be seen in my present state![:-))]

[Breton Networks]

We use Skype for 'text', voice & video, between here & our office in the UK & various family & friends worldwide.

We also use SkypeIn with numbers in the UK & USA, diverted to our (French) home or mobile phone for when I'm not near the computer & SkypeOut for calls to landlines & mobiles worldwide.

 I have played with Asterisk & SIP systems but they are either an overkill or too difficult to maintain.

 

 

[Pads]

We also use skype for text talking and video, its been a real life line for me and My husband as he works all over the world and he can stay in touch so much better weather Im in England or france .  

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="Pads"] better weather Im in England or france .  [/quote]

Worst spell of whether I've seen for years :-)

 

[ooVooMolly]

Thanks for all your responses - I always use ooVoo when I'm abroad (which is a lot, and my boyfriend lives abroad too) because I try and avoid paying anything at all, poor young cheapskate that I am...;)

[quote user="cooperlola"]I don't use video chat, but I do use MSN which is great.  I'm not sure I'd want to be seen in my present state![:-))][/quote]

I do think this is interesting - there are times when I really wish I had made more effort for the webcam, especially with a time difference that means it can be very early in the morning when I speak to my boyfriend! But now I'm used to video chat I find phone and email can seem quite impersonal. It took me a while to feel that but like all habits I suppose it creeps up on you. Does anyone find the webcam thing too weird?

[ooVooMolly]

[quote user="Pads"] so much better weather Im in England or france .  [/quote]

Oh, and I second this...I'm in England, my boyfriend is in Arizona... I'm so jealous of the sun! I almost hate being able to see his gloriously sun-filled room on a webcam...!

[Breton Networks]

[quote user="ooVooMolly"] I always use ooVoo [/quote]

OK, I'll bite, what would ooVoo give me the Skype doesn't ?

 

[ooVooMolly]

Hahaha OK Breton - I'm not part of the company so this ain't an advertising schpeil - but  thanks to ooVooworld I think I can give a pretty good overview of what I've noticed being said by people who have defected from Skype! Main reasons are:

Multi-user - ooVoo lets you video chat with up to 6 people simultaneously as opposed to Skype's 2.

Quality - ooVoo has much better overall video and audio quality (less delay etc) - it runs off proprietary protocols which give a professional quality

Design - lots of people find it v user-friendly and like the slick 'web 2.0' styling

Customer service - I have heard so many comments that the people on the ooVoo service team are so quick and helpful with problems - something Skype is notoriously bad at (there are lots of threads in their forums moaning about this!)

If you try it out it would be v interestign to hear if you find this is right or if you prefer to stick to Skype and why...

There, rant over. Now everyone feel free to jump on me and agree/bulldoze me down!! ;)

 

 

[retread]

Ok , I've got Skype and windows messanger and both suffer from an incredible time lag reminiscent of Apollo landings beep and speak  are all our calls routed via houston?

is OOVoo or WHY any better?

 ps I only ring computer to computer and messanger is free for that, little brother is a Mac user and uses Skype for some reason

[ooVooMolly]

ooVoo is run from proprietary protocols - which basically means it has much better audio and video quality than the other free apps out there. It also adjusts itself according to fluctuations in yoru bandwidth, so it will keep everything running smoothly as consistently as possible. It has a large following in the deaf community because it is effective for sign language and lip-reading - a little indication that the quality and synch is pretty good :)

ooVoo is completely free. Be good to hear how you like it if you decide to try it out.

[retread]

Being fairly thick I don't see that a reference to our hearing impaired brethren is useful when linked to speech sync. Is the delay significantly shorter than the free service from Skype and the free service provided by Microsoft(Messenger)?

Is there anyone else out there who has:-

 (A) Benefited significantly from a switch to ooVoo I do not need a multi way conversation-- too confusing--?

(B)Any knowlege of the takeup of this system?

I for one have no wish to fill my hard drive with another program of limited use. 

[ooVooMolly]

ooVoo is run from proprietary protocols which basically means it gets better audio and video quality (including better synching) than other free video chat apps. It has a cult following in the deaf community because they can use it for sign language and lip reading clearly - a pretty good testimonial :)

[ooVooMolly]

sorry didn't mean to resend that! The lip reading is significant because it is a justification of how clear the ooVoo picture quality is, not because of the lack of time delay. As I say, ooVoo runs from different protocols which means it does have better quality than the competition - but the only way to judge itf its worth putting on your computer is to try it ;) Be good to hear what you think. I personally know people who have swtiched from Skype and AIM, mainly because of the 6 rather than 2 person conferencing limit, the quality and the better customer service/technical help - but it would be good to hear from anyone else on the forums (both for and against it!)

[ooVooMolly]

And in terms of takeup - well it launched in June with 200 testers and now I believe it's got well over 400,000 pretty much through word of mouth