I don't understand why Microsoft took so long to do this. If they had been faster after Google Hangouts, it never would have gained a beachhead. Xbox One could easily find a secondary market as a conference room device; a Microsoft version of Airplay and Chromecast (ideally open to Mac and general web as well) would take more engineering, but would have been awesome too.
Skype group video calling becomes free
61–70 of 169 posts
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just point them at http://g.co/hangouts ?
Where did you find that link? Or indeed, the page it points to? I've never seen either before.
I too would be interested in knowing where you found that. It has a beautiful interface and solves my #1 annoyance with google hangouts which is: "Where do I go to start one?". Every time I try to use Hangouts I invite a friend but they never get the invite or the other way around and we spend 5min getting it setup when we could have used Skype and had zero issues. Trust me I am all for getting off Skype but hangouts has neither been easy or fast to get going in my experience.
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#63What's the best open source alternative to Skype?
Take a look at Ekiga (http://www.ekiga.org/).
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#64Another neat fact - announced in a Youtube video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4C1DGzHiis&list=PLaLRbjVhH6...
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#65Finally! I've used many video conferencing solutions but I have the impression that Skype is going to be the most convenient (largely because we're already using Skype as a team). Sqwiggle[0] is pretty neat as well ( Edit: I had to mention that, AFAIK Sqwiggle doesn't support group video conferencing ). [0] https://www.sqwiggle.com/
I like Sococo for teams (I work at Sococo). No scheduling conferences (talk/view any time they're available); integrated video/chat/doc sharing; can tell who's talking to whom/who's not busy/who has their door shut.
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#66What's the best open source alternative to Skype?
Skype is a service, not just a desktop client. It's like asking what the best open source alternative to Google search or Google maps might be.
Keep in mind, for most of Skype's history, the application ran peer-to-peer.. You could replicate that functionality with another app.
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#67Skype, awesome communication tool, turned most expensive honeypot ever.
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#68What's the best open source alternative to Skype?
Skype is a service, not just a desktop client. It's like asking what the best open source alternative to Google search or Google maps might be.
Can you point me to Skype's API? I always thought that Skype was a closed protocol and that they don't want any other client applications using their service...
Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#69cool. anybody using conference call equipment for skype? We have tried some logitech quipment to connect 2 offices ( http://www.logitech.com/de-de/product/tvcam-hd ) which didn´t work out very well. any recommendations?
Why not have everyone call in from their own machine? This way, it normalizes the communication bandwidth between everyone, no one feels like it's harder to be heard. A big failing of many remote teams I've seen is when they try to "strap on" a remote team. But if you can minimize the feeling of "real office vs virtual office" it works a lot better.
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Re: Skype group video calling becomes free
#70Finally! I've used many video conferencing solutions but I have the impression that Skype is going to be the most convenient (largely because we're already using Skype as a team). Sqwiggle[0] is pretty neat as well ( Edit: I had to mention that, AFAIK Sqwiggle doesn't support group video conferencing ). [0] https://www.sqwiggle.com/
I like Sococo for teams (I work at Sococo). No scheduling conferences (talk/view any time they're available); integrated video/chat/doc sharing; can tell who's talking to whom/who's not busy/who has their door shut.
Thanks for the reference. I'll definitely check it out.
That's what I like with Sqwiggle (or similar tools). It's the ease of connecting with a team member using video. (I'm just noticing something: I forgot to mention that AFAIK Sqwiggle doesn't support group conferencing.). Your connection/team member is a click away and you know if they're at their desk thanks to the snapshots.