To use this free service, users just need a webcam and a small Web browser plugin to start video chatting. And, those without a webcam can use an audio chat option, says Google.
"Google is offering browser-based voice and video chat as a natural extension to webmail and instant messaging, allowing people to choose how they want to communicate at each moment -- by e-mail, instant message, voice or video," states the company.
To get started, open a Gmail chat window, click on the 'Options' menu at the bottom and choose 'Add voice/video chat', which will walk you through a one-time installation of a free plugin. When you re-open Gmail, you'll notice your 'Options' link in your chat window has changed to 'Video & more'. Open this menu and click 'Start video chat' to start chatting. You can pop out the video and change its size and position, or switch to full screen.
Gmail voice and video chat is being rolled out over the next day or so on PCs and on Macs. Google Apps customers get this service as well, at no extra charge, and can voice or video chat with any other Gmail or Apps users.
To use voice and video chat, your PC must have Windows XP or a more recent version, or an Intel-Based Mac with Mac OS X v10.4 or later. It works in browsers that support the latest version of Gmail (Google Chrome, Firefox 2.0+, Internet Explorer 7.0 and Safari 3.0). |
How much bandwidth it will require to do Video chat and is it secure though seems to be good feature. and it is secured on WAN backbone of an organisation
