OoVoo- Video Chatting for 2008

February 15, 2008 · Comments

DougHaslam- Screencaps 2

OoVoo is a desktop software application that allows people to chat with up to five others (six total) using video, text, and I believe audio (though I didn’t try an audio only connection). Yesterday, I took part in My OoVoo Day with a bunch of other bloggers and media makers. It was basically a bunch of scheduled chats with people using the technology.

My first thought was that it was like Stickam and/or maybe like PalTalk, only with a slightly different mindset. It’s shiny. There are lots of buttons to push. There’s a fairly simple (fairly) social communication tool.

It worked okay for a six way chat early on. The errors people experienced were mostly bandwidth related, it seemed. I think Mac users get a slightly less robust experience (grumble, grumble), but otherwise, it worked-ish. Jeff Glasson from PerkettPR (on a Mac) had a rough time, but I think that’s him. : )

What I Don’t Like

  • Client-side app made it one more communications box open (like Skype, AIM, etc). But hey: video *ON* the net is tricky stuff. That’s why there’s a conference about it in May. (plug plug for Jeff).
  • I didn’t like that PCs can record and Macs can’t. Parity, folks. Especially in the hungry blogger crowd. We’re all (okay, mostly) using Macs.
  • I don’t know why I’ll use it. I mean, I get it, but I’m not sure how often I’ll use it. (But that’s me.)

What It Will/Can Do

Videobloggers can use it as a way to hold video interview panels easily. People can do ad hoc face-to-face moments. It’s much less expensive than pro conference services.

My vote? It’s okay. Not sure I’m an adopter, but that’s not saying it’s bad. I just need to find the right use case for when I need a group video platform.

What did you think?

(Oh, and props to Scott Monty of Crayon for really rocking the campaign and getting lots of people into the experience. THAT was a raging success).

DougHaslam-Screencaps

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  • monika
    i'm trying to talk my district into unblocking skype so my students in colorado can work with (do math with) students in africa/etc. (teachers without borders recommended skype.)
    my district is suggesting oovoo instead.
    anyone have pros and cons they can offer?
    biggest con for oovoo i'm seeing (from geekmommy's post) is that you can only have one person interact - with headphones.
  • tawfik
    la capasite et lacapabilete mercè du votre fidelite
  • tawfik
    ilike this please take this
  • bosha14
    hi every one how use oovoo . i found it v.good than yahoo and alittel bit than hotmail
    but i wanna know how can i call anther contrys ...
    i hope theres answer ....
  • Good post. You make some great points that most people do not fully understand.

    "My first thought was that it was like Stickam and/or maybe like PalTalk, only with a slightly different mindset. It’s shiny. There are lots of buttons to push. There’s a fairly simple (fairly) social communication tool.

    It worked okay for a six way chat early on. The errors people experienced were mostly bandwidth related, it seemed. I think Mac users get a slightly less robust experience (grumble, grumble), but otherwise, it worked-ish. Jeff Glasson from PerkettPR (on a Mac) had a rough time, but I think that’s him. : ) "

    I like how you explained that. Very helpful. Thanks.
  • I’d be interested in a clinical breakdown of the whole process.

    How did ooVoo prepare you for your first session?

    Did ooVoo provide training or give you an example of a well executed session?

    What were your objectives and how did you prepare?

    Once you took a crack at it, what adjustments did you make to your ensuing sessions?

    How different was your first session from your last session?

    Laura and anyone else with ooVoo scars, feel free to share your answers to these questions.
  • Thanks for the poke Chris! :)

    I'm still having very strange issues with the latest version and even have ooVoo support scratching their heads! Word on the street is another Mac rev will be available by Monday the 18th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

    Troubles aside, I found the experience fun while it worked for me, and and it should be interesting to seeing where they take the product. As part of a virtual company, I'm looking forward to the day when all my co-workers have web-cams and we can take advantage of tools like ooVoo!
  • I like Laura's idea too about the sort of ooVoo Think Tank approach...
    I'm wondering if there's an idea in doing a compare/contrast between ooVoo and YahooLive. One of the things I like about the ooVoo platform is that you can have a "private"ish chat with 6 people - and not wonder who the 11 other people 'lurking' in the room are... and if recording is happening, you are alerted.

    I think there's definitely a niche for it - I just don't know that we've actually found it's full potential just yet. Kind of like Twitter didn't make a lot of sense to some of us as just a status update app, but as a social networking app it is terribly appealing.
  • LOLZ, GeekMommy beat me to the punch here. I was saying that while ooVoo didn't quite rock out the seminar format I've been attempting, I think it could be killer for "Beer O'Clock". She & I joined a bunch of others on Erin's ooVoo today and had a long, amazing, candid chat. We never would have gotten that open that fast on text or other means.

    I think it's an interesting way to converse that's been missing for me, because it's the first app. I've seen for a good-sized video group. And I mean good-sized literally, because more than 6 would lose the cocktail party chat feel.

    I could also see it shine for a "mastermind group" where you pull together 3-5 other professionals with overlapping interests to hang out, compare notes and push each other forward with ideas & motivation.

    Still processing my thoughts on it, but those are the two biggest ideas that stand out for me.
  • I really need to get my own review up - but I will say that I think it will be fun for Happy Hour - we can all ooVoo call hop! ;)
  • Hey Chris,

    Thanks for giving it a spin at least. And your frank assessment is appreciated. Yes, ooVoo is aware that they need to bring the Mac version up to speed - and the goal is to have both platforms in parallel development within the year.

    While this won't be a perfect solution for everyone, this program - and your participation - has been a great way to intro it to the world. It should be interesting to see how people use ooVoo moving forward.
  • I heard of Oovoo way back when they only had a Windows version. To be honest, it didn't look great from the screenshots I saw on their site, so I never went back. It's nice to know I'm not missing much ;)
  • Chris, how's it compare to iChat video conferencing? It seems to support more people in the conference than iChat, but how's the user experience?
  • I was part of the last session and my connection held steady but the rest seemed to be dropping like flies.

    Not sure if/when I'd use it again. I did have a couple of one to one conversations yesterday that went well but I can do one to one with several other applications.
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