ooVoo: One up on Skype? Maybe two or three?


OK... OK... I haven't had time to blog lately, but I thought this might be worthy of a post.

I have been waiting (years now) for Skype to add some Multi-User Video Conferencing functionality to their already amazing free product. (Can you tell I like Skype?) Up to this point the only Multi-User video conferencing options were uber-pricey and required special network appliances to work.

Well... the wait is over, but... Someone has beat Skype to it.... and that someone is ooVoo. That's right.... ooVoo. This dandy new little piece of software let's you video conference with up to four different users for.... wait for it...................... FREE! So, if you are here in DC, and you have some family in CA, and some more family in NJ, and even more in PA (as I do).... you can all talk and see each other at the SAME TIME! Any more than four users including yourself, your going to need to pay.

To get started using ooVoo: just go to www.oovoo.com and download the software. Create an account, add some friends... and your ready to ooVoo! If someone you know doesn't want to install the software... That's OK..... you can send anyone an invitation to video conference through the web! Basically, it sends them a link to a website, when they click on it, they join your conference in a web browser. You can't do that with Skype!

OK... This is the disclaimer section of the post: This is pretty new stuff, and they haven't quite worked all of the bugs out yet, but hey.... you get what you pay for.... right? The voice quality tends to echo a bit and video can't even touch Skype quality, but it's not too bad... And I'm sure it will get better. Because it is free, it also does have advertising as you can see in the image above. The interface is a bit darker than what you may be used to with Skype too.

The best part is that I can't imagine that Skype won't have an answer for this. I'll be keeping my eye out on both companies to see how things are progressing. A little competition usually helps the people get what they want.

I hope you found this post informative and helpful. I will try to not let so much time pass between posts next time. :)

As always..... Many Thanks..... and your comments are not only welcome, but encouraged.