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Written by Sandy Berger
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The free ooVoo service allows you to talk face-to-face over the Internet with up to three people for free. (The paid version allows you to talk to and see up to six people at one time.)
ooVoo is very Apple-like in what you see on the screen. For those of you who have not used a Mac, it will suffice to say that you see the people that you are talking to in a very nice display on the screen. In order to talk to your friends and family on ooVoo, each of the participants must have a broadband connection and a webcam. They must also have ooVoo installed on their computer. But even if you each have purchase a webcam, it is a small investment to be able to talk to several family members or friends at one time.
Besides video calling, you can also record video messages and send them to other ooVoo accounts or to email accounts. You can even add basic video special effects like wearing a moustache of a hat. (It's good for a giggle from the younger grandchildren!) ooVoo is pretty versatile. You can send files (including photographs) to your ooVoo friends and family as you talk or any other time, for that matter. You can also use ooVoo as an instant messaging client to type messages to others.
ooVoo works with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and newer version of the Mac operating system.
The ooVoo interface is clean and easy-to-use. If you are already into video conferencing with a program like Skype, you will probably appreciate the fact that the ooVoo interface is a lot less cluttered. ooVoo also has a useful Favorites bar which you can keep open to show the contacts that you ooVoo the most. So if you call the same people all the time, it the favorites bar makes it very easy to use.
Neophytes or first time video callers will also like the fact that everything is explained in a video. Just go to the Help menu and choose ooVoo Tutorial to watch a video that will show you exactly how to use ooVoo.
Of course, ooVoo is hoping that you upgrade to the paid services to get higher quality pictures, the ability to record chats, and other extra features. But many of you will, like me, find that the free service suits them very well.
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