Overview

In this chapter and in Chapter 7 we will discuss in some detail most of the video call software solutions currently available. We touch on more than 40 video call software solutions; if we miss one or two solutions, either they have a vertical application or they are not widely used. Of course, send me an e-mail about any that we missed and we will take a look at the solution for the Web site or the next edition of this book. In Appendix B we list all the software video call solutions together alphabetically so that you can compare them all together versus our breakdown by section. Appendix B contains the commercial solutions as well.

Now we will try to make sense of the plethora of solutions that exist in the software video call space so you can start to select what you need for your particular needs. In Chapter 1, we defined personal videoconferencing, business videoconferencing, and Web videoconferencing. Just know that anything that sends audio and video is a possibility for personal videoconferencing. We will only show screenshots and details of the better solutions, which are those that rate 4 or 5. Since we are trying to help you select a solution, we will do so by the categories and ratings. Of course, you are free to select anything you want and try it to see if a particular solution works for you. Also, because the solutions in this chapter are free, we recommend using multiple...