OOVOO! OOVOO! OOVOO! That is all my daughter would ever talk about. Ever since she was able to get on Facebook all I hear about is OOVOO.
If you are unfamiliar with OOVOO its an online service that allows you to set up video conferencing with one or up to six people at a time. Its a FREE service if you just want to talk one on one with another person via video chat. If you wish to open yourself up to more options you can subscribe for a monthly fee which allows you to talk to multiple people at the same time. The monthly subscriptions range in price from $9.95/MO (3-way video chatting) to $19.95/MO (6-way video chatting).
Why would you want video chatting you might be asking? For me the biggest benefit would be to connect with family and friends across the miles. Sure, you could easily pick up a phone and call someone but that lacks the face-t0-face connection that many people prefer. Personally I would rather have a video chat session set up so I can talk to my cousin in PA “face-to-face” rather then just chat with her over the phone.
Video chatting on OOVOO is PERFECT for grandparents who want to connect with their grandchildren who live across the miles. Babies and toddlers are not ones to chat on the phone (obviously) but setting them up in front of your web cam so Grandma and Grandpa can see would be very appreciated. Pictures are great but being able to interact with the children would be very special to them.
Here is an example of my daughter chatting with one of her friends on OOVOO. I had to cover up their “names” to protect their identity. The Christmas decorations are NOT on the OOVOO screen. I added those to cover up the screen names.
I have no idea what my daughter’s friend was doing and why she was so fuzzy in the screen. I’m sure it had something to do with her end. She might have used one of the video editing features.
I know A LOT of teens that use OOVOO to connect with their friends. They usually end up doing silly things on it. I have seen a few examples from my daughter. Its no wonder its a huge hit with teens.
OOVOO is a great way to connect with multiple people at the same time. Let’s say for example you want to set up a surprise birthday party for Grandma. Rather then having to make multiple phone calls between you and other relatives you can all see each other and speak to each other at the same time. Even if you are in New York and your family is scattered around the country in Ohio, Vermont, Florida, Texas and Arizona, you can all talk to each other at the same time on OOVOO. This is a great feature for businesses too.
If you or your spouse travels a lot for business OOVOO is a great way to stay connected. Your spouse could interact with your children and even read them a bedtime story thanks to OOVOO.
You do need a web cam to use OOVOO. I have a web cam but it doesn’t like my laptop (which I use all the time). I tried several times just to install the web cam and it didn’t work. Ugh! We did get it to work on my husband’s lap top but that doesn’t help me much. It also worked on my daughter’s lap top. I guess maybe its not liking my computer much because my computer is older. UGH! I’m very disappointed because OOVOO has an option where you can embed a video chat link on your blog so you can actually have a face-to-face conversation with one of your friends. Or if you have a business you could set up video customer service via the chat room embed. I think it would be fun to interact with my readers with video chat.
That was another problem I had. Everyone I wanted to chat with didn’t have a web cam. UGH! Only my daughter’s friends. So she gets to take advantage of the web cam and OOVOO. After spending last weekend in NYC with my family that I haven’t seen in 10 years I would very much LOVE to be able to keep in touch with them via video chat.
Setting up an OOVOO account is easy. You’ll have to download the software from their site but that is easy enough to do. Just make sure to read the pop ups so that you don’t set up any toolbars or OOVOO as a home page, unless you want to.
Once you are set up the main screen is a bit confusing. There is a lot going on. I was a bit confused by all of it by my teen daughter was able to explain it to me. Ha! Leave it to the kids to explain things to adults.
Because we have a free account we have to put up with the ads. It can be annoying but after a while you get used to it.
OOVOO is a lot like Skype, except you can see who you are talking with and interact with them on a more personal level. I also think that OOVOO has more “bells and whistles” compared to Skype too.
I know there is A LOT that I am neglecting to write about with OOVOO. Having the web cam set up on my daughter’s computer doesn’t allow me the ability to play around with it as much as I’d like to. Also none of my relatives have a web cam which makes it hard for me to video chat with people to really check out all of OOVOO’s cool features. My daughter is having more luck with it then I am since she is able to chat with more people.
OH! I almost forgot to add that you do not need an OOVOO account to use OOVOO. An OOVOO account user can send you an invite to join in on a video chat.
To learn more about OOVOO or to try it out for yourself visit www.OOVOO.com. You’ll also find a lot of very helpful video tutorials and feature overviews.
You can also connect with OOVOO on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/OOVOO) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/OOVOO).
If you are looking for a fun way to connect with family and friends for the holiday season check out OOVOO. Make your holiday “merrier” by being able to connect with loved ones across the miles face-t0-face.
Kimberly
*I received a sample webcam free to do this review, even though it wouldn’t work on my computer. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.