Many of you will have been using video conferencing over the last few weeks as the default means of communicating with your colleagues, and will be wondering why you ever bothered with scratchy conference calls bellowed into mobiles and speaker phones when this was available. But for the uninitiated, video conferencing can be a very vivid way of keeping in touch with friends and family during these fragmented times. But should you be Zooming or House Partying? Below we explain the main alternatives.
before you get started
All the main video-conferencing services are free to use, so the main differences between them are how you connect with people and which devices they work on. Skype, Zoom and Google Hangouts work on PC’s, Macs, phones and tablets. WhatsApp only works on phones, while FaceTime only operates on Apple computers, phones and iPads. So the service you use will depend in part on the device you have to hand and what service the person/people you want to connect with have.
If you want to video conference from a computer, then it will need to have a camera, microphone and speakers as a minimum. If these aren’t built in, you can attach them. For speaking and listening, USB headphones with a microphone are a real asset. If you are connecting through a phone or tablet, obviously these have cameras, microphones and speakers built in, but again using headphones with a microphone will significantly enhance sound quality for you and other participants. Whichever service you are using, it also helps a lot if you are connected to WiFi when you start the call. Video takes up a lot of bandwidth, so if you’re just on the cellular network call quality won’t be good and you’ll also use up a lot of your monthly data.
skype
Skype is the granddaddy of video-conferencing applications, having been created in Scandinavia in 2003 and revolutionising communications over the web in the process. It is now owned by Microsoft, and often comes bundled with Office software, but if you don’t already have it you can download it here. You need to create a Skypename, which is your unique username which you then share with other users to give them the quickest way of finding and connecting with you. Once you’ve connected with someone you can add them to your address book so next time you just click on their name. You can allow Skype to search your contacts list in Outlook as a quick way of populating your Skype address book. You then can make a video call anywhere in the world by double-clicking on a name in your address book, and the connection will be automatic when they answer.
One of the big advantages of Skype is the huge installed base - most people with PC’s or laptops running Windows will have Skype or can easily get it. The video and audio quality is good, and you can add multiple people to a call, though the process can be a little clunky. The downside is that the other participants have to have already downloaded and registered with Skype before you can connect with them, and then you really need to have the their Skypenames to find them - just using the search function will usually bring up lots of alternatives, and then will require guesswork to make sure you’re not calling the wrong person.
Another really useful feature of Skype is that you can put some money onto your Skype credit, and then use it to make very cheap calls to landlines and mobiles around the world. Calls from Skype to mobiles cost the same wherever in the world the mobiles are, at a fraction of the per-minute cost of using a landline or mobile. So if your Mum in Australia has given up on computers, use Skype to call her mobile or landline.
zoom
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the current crisis has been video-conferencing service Zoom. While the rest of the stockmarket has been going down the pan, Zoom’s shareprice has gone through the roof, on the back of millions of new downloads of the app.
The biggest advantage of Zoom over Skype is that only one of the participants needs to have downloaded the app and registered. That person can then send a link to the other participants in the call, who when they click on the link on the computer, tablet or phone will be automatically connected to the call.
You can download the Zoom app to your computer on this link. The apps for phones and tablets will be found in the app stores. It will ask for your e-mail address and then send you a confirmation e-mail, with a link to click on, you then create a password and you’re good to go. When you want to put together a new video conference call you click on ‘New Meeting’, which then gives you a Meeting ID invitation that you copy and send to the other participants, telling them the time you want to have the call.They then click on the link at the appointed time and you all connect seamlessly. Calls can last up to 40 minutes and you can connect with up to 99 people simultaneously. The UK Cabinet has famously been using Zoom to hold Cabinet meetings.
Perhaps the most fun feature of Zoom is that you can on the click of a button change the background behind you, although this won’t work on all computers. So if you wanted to you could change your kitchen or lounge room to the Golden Gate Bridge or the Northern Lights. Unsurprisingly a huge industry has quickly evolved providing bespoke Zoom backgrounds.
google hangouts
Google Hangouts operate similarly to Zoom calls, in that you create an invite that has a link in it and send it to the other participants specifying what time you want to speak. You then start the call at that time and they click on the link to join.
You have to however have a Google account in order to start a Google Hangout video call, although you don’t need one to join a call started by someone else so long as you have the link. If you are logged into your Google account and are on your computer you go to hangouts.google.com on any browser, and then click on the button that says ‘Video Call’. From there it takes you to a screen that includes a button ‘Copy Link To Share’. That will give you the link you can then send to the other participants. Alternatively you can download the Google Hangouts app for your phone or tablet and follow the instructions on there.
house party
House Party markets itself as being a social network rather than a video conferencing app, but video conferencing has been its main feature. If you have teenage children then chances are they already use it, but it is becoming increasingly popular with adults during this time. It can work on all phones, Apple computers and through the Chrome browser on PCs. You can download the app here.
You invite other people who are members to join your network in a similar way to Facebook and other social networks. Then people create ‘rooms’ which they are in chatting to whoever drops in, with a maximum of 8 people chatting at any given time. When you go into the app, you can see which of your friends are online, and then ‘wave’ at them to see if they want to chat. You can also see who is already chatting in a ‘room’, and if it’s not locked you can just join the chat. If it’s a locked room you ‘wave’ at one of your friends who is in the chat and they can admit you. You don’t know who else is in the room until you join, which has led to a number of instances where people are joining rooms in which celebrities are chatting.
House Party is a much more casual online video conversation tool. Rather than scheduling calls you browse around your network to see who is in a room chatting and then you drop in and join them. These rooms can stay open for hours with people coming and going, so in many ways, as the name suggests, it’s more like a virtual party than a dedicated video calling service.
facetime
This is an Apple only app and consequently will only work on iPhones, iPads and Apple computers. Nonetheless given the huge installed base of iPhones, it is a quick and convenient way of doing one on one video chats with friends and colleagues. The app is automatically loaded onto all Apple devices so one doesn’t need to download or register. When you want to make a video call to friend, just find them in your Contacts, and there is an option on their contact details to FaceTime them, which you click to start the call. Note that you can also just do a voice-to-voice call, which if you are on WiFi at the time is a free alternative to making a regular call.
This is a phone based app that works across all types of smartphones. It is primarily used as a free alternative to texting, and increasingly for creating groups of friends or colleagues to share information. But it can also be used for holding video chats, primarily for one on one calling but it is possible to hold a video chat with a group.
The app needs to be downloaded from your phone’s app store. It then searches through the Contacts list on your phone and automatically adds into the WhatsApp Contacts list those people who have WhatsApp. Then to video call them go to the Calls section, and click the new calls icon at the top right of the screen. To do a one-on-one audio or video call click the appropriate icon next to their name. To make a group call, click ‘New Group Call’ and then add in those people from the Contacts list you want to include in the group call. Very simple.