Skype is one of the industry’s most common messaging apps currently owned by Microsoft. This is distracting to watch and can lead to people unintentionally interrupting or talking over each other.Next time you want to video call, here are the 5 top softwares for video calling on Laptops.

Does the audio sync well with the image? Some older platforms can have issues with the image getting ahead of the sound.

If you are showing or demonstrating products, you may want to seek out the platform with the highest resolution image so that participants can follow without any pixelation or loss of sharpness.

Will the video be used only to see each other’s faces or to show products, samples, or demos? If you’re just looking at faces, most platforms will work just fine.

Figure 2 shows a meeting in which the dark haired woman is leading and therefore has the largest picture. Figure 1 shows a collaborative meeting with all of the participants’ images the same size.

Is this a presentation mostly led by one person or a collaborative meeting? If attention is going to be on mostly one person, consider how the video windows are arranged.

That said, when you are choosing a platform, consider the following parameters: Videoconferencing is generally accomplished using a third-party application such as Skype, Zoom, WebEx or video features in a multi-featured platform like Slack or Amazon Chime.Įach offers slightly different features or different ways of accessing common features. You should make sure the computer you plan to use has a working speaker, so you can hear others, and a working microphone, so others can hear you. There are lots of online reviews of webcams to help you make a choice.

For video conferencing under normal indoor lighting conditions, a camera from the middle of the pack will do.

Webcams vary widely in price, from about $20 to a couple hundred dollars.

You can also purchase a separate webcam.

On laptops, the camera is usually in the center at the top of the screen.

Most newer computers (post-2010) have cameras built in.

To conduct a call or meeting by video, first you must make sure you have the necessary equipment. The tools and platforms available to you for video communication generally work in more or less the same ways, through the details of features and benefits will vary somewhat.

Compare and contrast common tools for video communication.

Oovoo vs skype vs zoom