Go Beyond Text with Voice & Video Chats
See It in Action, Then Do It Yourself
Published: November 1, 2002
Add live, real-time audio and video to your chats in Windows Messenger.
See It in Action
Watch the video, and then follow the steps below to do it yourself. Watching the video requires that you have Windows Media Player. If you're using a dial-up connection, we recommend that you use the "download" link to download the video to your computer before playing it.
Broadband: Watch the video now.
Dial-up: Download the video (instructions)
Do It Yourself
With the right equipment and network connections, Windows Messenger in Windows XP provides live, real–time voice and video chats on your computer. You can talk to people anywhere in the world and see their faces and surroundings. You can exchange text messages, or share files and programs.
What You Need to Use Voice and Video Chat with Windows XP
You and your contact both need Windows XP, a sound card, a microphone, and speakers, or a headset; a Web camera, and preferably a broadband connection to the Internet, such as a cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), or local area network connection. (Using video in a conversation over a standard, dial–up Internet connection is possible but performance improves greatly with a broadband connection.)
Before your first voice or video chat, you should run through the audio and video tuning wizard to optimize your settings. Start the wizard by clicking on Tools and then Audio Tuning Wizard. The wizard will take you through a few simple steps and your equipment set-up is complete.
To start a videoconference
1. | Double–click the name of a contact on your list. The Conversation window will open. |
2. | Click Start camera. Windows Messenger will notify you that an invitation was sent. |
