Your Webcam and Windows Live Messenger — put them together and you'll be video chatting to your friends, no matter where in the world they are, in seconds.
We've all been there, pulling out an international calling card to speak to friends back home while we're away, or vice versa, finding the right change, dialling incredibly long numbers, only to find that we're disconnected after five minutes because of excessive flagfall rates and international call costs. It's just no way to stay in touch with anyone if you haven't seen them in a while.
So why not video chat instead? It's free, quick, and best of all you're talking face-to-face with the person on the other end. Windows Live Messenger has had a video chat capability for a while now, and it's stupendously easy to use. All you've got to do is make sure your Webcam is set up properly and follow the few short steps we've got below and you'll be chatting away in seconds.
Just a quick note on the instructions, the video tab in your Windows Live Messenger chat window will only appear if you have an active Webcam set up on your desktop — so make sure that's good to go before attempting to video chat with someone. You'll also need a compatible microphone and headset so that you can hear each other too.
1. Choose who you're chatting to
It's just the same as when you want to chat normally with someone, just double click on their name and open up a chat window.
2. Click Video
An invitation will be sent to your contact and once they've accepted your invitation your video chat will begin.
3. Start chatting
Now you're ready to chat in high-resolution, you can resize your video window, so you can work on other things while you're talking, or let several people view live video on a larger screen.
That's about it really.
Download the new Windows Live Messenger if you don't have it already.
How it works