There are many ways over which to communicate with other people from different parts of the world at any time of the day. People have made use of the Voice Over Internet Protocol Innovation and millions have greatly benefited it. Macintosh has also taken this into account in that they have made audio and video conferencing in great quality available for consumers worldwide.

Video conferencing with the use of iChat is just an effortless thing to do provided that it is installed correctly. With iChat, it allows you to have an audio and video conferencing through your computer.

But you will need an AOL screen name or a MobileMe account. The best part about the video conferencing service with iChat is that its completely free, of course after you take into account the cost of the Mac itself.

The AIM Network can also be used with iChat for audio and video conferencing. If you already have an AOL account or a separate AIM account for instant messaging, once you’ve configured it you’ll be able to start Video Conferences with AOL or MobileMe users.

Setting up an iChat Account

If you haven’t previously used iChat, when you first open it the application will be prompted you and invite you to use an @mac.com or @moblieme.com name for an account. You can utilize the free 60-day trial and create a screen name if you’d like to try out the video conferencing functionality before paying for a MobileMe subscription.

After you’ve setup your account in iChat you can start a video conference with a friend over the internet. Ensure that your camera is turned on by clicking on the green camera beside your name. iChat then will show you your image in a horizontal preview. You can adjust the video streaming settings by clicking on preferences.

Mac Video Conferencing

On your buddy list, you can click the camera sign just beside your friend’s name and that will automatically send out a video conferencing invitation of which they can accept or reject. If someone is inviting you, you can click on the small window that has the invitation announcement in it. Once you have accepted, the person who has invited you will show on the big screen while your camera will be shown in the smaller window just below it. You can go full screen if you are conferencing with another Mac user.

If you want to do multi-audio conferencing or multi-video conferencing with a very fast connection, just command click on buddies you want to invite. You can invite up to three buddies for this, provided that they have a multi-camera icon beside their names. After command clicking, click the camera icon that can be found below the buddy list.

Now, you can enjoy video and audio conferencing to your friends, family and love ones. It has never been easier with Mac’s iChat application.

iChat, one of the most popular instant messaging platforms for the mac, just added a new message platform to its portfolio. iChat users can now connect with their Facebook friends without navigating to facebook.com

Thanks to the development team at Facebook, you can now stay up to date with all your Facebook friends through Facebook Chat in iChat. Utilizing Jabber, the same Instant Messaging technology that powers google talk, Facebook Chat is now available on iChat and other instant messaging software clients.

Add Facebook Chat to iChat

If you’re interested in how to add Facebook to iChat follow the steps listed below:

1. Open iChat and select “Preferences” from the iChat menu dropdown.
2. Click the “Accounts” tab and then click the “+” at the bottom.

3. Select “Jabber” from the drop-down menu and then enter the following info:
   Screen Name: [yourfullusername]@chat.facebook.com
   Password: [your Facebook password]
4. Click the arrow next to “Server Options” and enter the following server option information:
   Server: chat.facebook.com
   Port: 5222
   (Uncheck the box labeled “Use SSL”)

Once you’ve finished the steps above, click the done button and your Facebook Chat list should open in iChat. It should be just a matter of seconds before your “always” available for your Facebook friends to reach out to your through iChat and instant message about the latest happenings.

If you’re not big on logging in to check on your Facebook updates, but like to quickly communicate with friends, this is a great way to keep in touch with people without all the distraction of Facebook status updates.