Video call freeware?

[John C.]

I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
probably.

Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
calls?

I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
start when I double clicked on the shortcut.

Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
fairly mainstream?

TIA
--
John C. BS206. No ad, CD, commercial, cripple, demo, nag, pirated,
share, spy, time-limited, trial or web wares for me please. I filter out
posts made from Google Groups and cross-posted (sent to more than one
newsgroup at a time) messages. I recommend you do likewise.

[Nicodemus]

"John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote in news:rqh1fj$ubc$1...@dont-email.me:

> I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
> friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
> to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
> any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
> sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
> probably.
>
> Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
> calls?
>
> I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
> it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
> start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>
> Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
> fairly mainstream?
>
> TIA

If you keep this up someone might not think you are that proverbial ball
buster.
Point of question: If you are serious and actually have living members in
your collective family, best you polish up your verbal skills, because the
next question you ask might be a serious inquiray into what is real.

[Bill Day]

On Sat, 5 Dec 2020 14:26:53 -0800, "John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
>friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
>to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
>any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
>sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
>probably.
>
>Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
>calls?
>
>I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
>it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
>start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>
>Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
>fairly mainstream?
>
>TIA

I used Skype just once, and it worked perfectly with a guy in
Ireland to sort out his geneaology program. I could see him and he
could see either me or my screen... I did have a good add-on camera.

I participated in a Zoom folk singing weekend last month,,, but all
the set-up was done by others. I assume it 'could' be used for family
calls. There are others far more knowlegable than me on these things.
--
remove nonsense for reply

[Nicodemus]

Bill Day <extreeN...@verizon.net> wrote in
news:vi3osfhfk5r9s6h9l...@4ax.com:

I would love to hear about the folk songs you sang,

[Shit the Cat]

On Sat, 5 Dec 2020 14:26:53 -0800, "John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
>friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
>to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
>any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
>sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
>probably.
>
>Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
>calls?
>
>I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
>it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
>start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>
>Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
>fairly mainstream?

Pooh, Corliss using Windows 10 and now video calls over Skype. Will I
wake up to discover this is all a dream?

--
Shit the cat
Webmeister in waiting
Copyright theft advisor
http://shitsworld.com

[p-0''0-h the cat (coder)]

Don't wake up yet. Wait until after he gives himself bunny ears and a
big red nose.

Sent from my iFurryUnderbelly.

--
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the OVERCAT [The BEARPAIR are dead, and we are its murderers], lowlife troll,
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NewsGroups Numbrer One Terrorist

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I mark any messages from trolls »Q« and 'Arlene' Holder as stinky

[John C.]

Shit the Cat wrote:

> John C. wrote:
>>
>> I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
>> friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
>> to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
>> any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
>> sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
>> probably.
>>
>> Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
>> calls?
>>
>> I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
>> it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
>> start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>>
>> Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
>> fairly mainstream?
>
> Pooh, Corliss using Windows 10 and now video calls over Skype. Will I
> wake up to discover this is all a dream?

This computer (my main one) is W7. The laptop is almost always offline,
only used on trips to visit relatives to the north.

Skype is a disappointment because if you don't allow it to update, it
just quits starting when you try to run the program. I'm more inclined
to find something else. Zoom is a possibility.

By the way, since I don't have a cell phone, I've been using Google
Voice to place long distance calls for a couple of years now. I always
tell whoever I'm calling that this is the case so that they'll be
careful what they say.

[John C.]

Bill Day wrote:

Thanks for replying, Bill. I'm interested in video calling because of
the pandemic. Many doctors will only see you that via teleconference.
Also, you can get in touch with some businesses that way and spare
yourself a drive, can see their product that way.

As for Zoom, I see that I can download and install an extension for
Firefox. That might be the way to go.

[John C.]

Looks like it has some kind of involvement with Google Calendar for
scheduling calls. If that's a requirement though, that would be a
deal-killer.

[s|b]

On Sun, 6 Dec 2020 01:50:14 -0800, John C. wrote:

> Looks like it has some kind of involvement with Google Calendar for
> scheduling calls. If that's a requirement though, that would be a
> deal-killer.

AFAIK that's not a requirement. I installed Zoom a while ago and prefer
it to Teams (which my employer uses). You can receive invites through
e-mail without it having linked to Google Calendar.

--
s|b

[occam]

On 05/12/2020 23:26, John C. wrote:
> I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
> friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
> to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
> any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
> sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
> probably.
>
> Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
> calls?
>
> I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
> it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
> start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>
> Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
> fairly mainstream?
>

Skype is good, but if you want many-to-many meetings, the coordinator
must have a paid-for (pro) version.

Zoom is the latest 'Covid generation' software. Many-to many is easy and
intuitive. However, you need to book a time-slot for your meeting. You
can then invite others, who have to use your password to gain access.

My favourite is Messenger. <https://www.messenger.com/>

Pros - no prior booking is required. You can text, video, or send
speech-messages at will, to as many people on your list.

Cons - Messenger is a Facebook product. (You DO NOT need to have a FB
account to use it, but you DO need a valid email. I use a throw-away
fake email.)

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 5 Dec 2020 14:26:53 -0800, John C. wrote:

> Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
> calls?

If folks run a search of alt.comp.freeware using the URL below...
o <http://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-freeware>

They'll also find this, rather detailed thread, among others...

o What is a privacy-aware cross platform free personal video-tele-conference app to host & join meetings of about a dozen participants?
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware/c/R-sYi3b7Q2U/m/_i0Du3W2IAAJ>

It starts with the following and looks at them for general purpose use:
> o ACT Conferencing
> o Adobe Acrobat Connect
> o AT Conference
> o Compunetix
> o Elluminate
> o Glance
> o Google Hangouts (although Google may be killing it in the future)
> o GoToMeeting
> o InterCall
> o Jami
> o Jitsi
> o LifeSize
> o Livestorm Meet
> o LoopUp
> o MeetingZone
> o MS Office Live Meeting
> o my Global Conference
> o Polycom
> o Premiere Global Services
> o Skype
> o TrueConf
> o Voxeet
> o WebEx
> o Zoom

Please let me know if anything new comes of this John C. thread as his
requirements are different so we can add what he learns to this list.
--
Posting out of the goodness of my heart, as always, to help everyone.

[Arlen Holder]

On Sun, 6 Dec 2020 15:05:06 +0100, occam wrote:

> Zoom is the latest 'Covid generation' software. Many-to many is easy and
> intuitive. However, you need to book a time-slot for your meeting. You
> can then invite others, who have to use your password to gain access.

Hi occam,

I'm not so sure you need to book the Zoom meeting in advance...
o Certainly you "can" book it in advance - but I think you don't need to.

When you sign up for the "free" Zoom account, you can get a personal id
o That personal id (or whatever they call it) is like a zoom phone number

AFAIK, anyone can 'call you' on that 'zoom phone number'
o Of course, it doesn't ring, so you'd have to know they'd be calling you

But, AFAIK, that works with the free account.

The main limitation I've seen with the free account is the 45-minute cutoff
o Which they sometimes extend (actually, always so far, at least for me).

All this is covered, AIR, in the canonical thread on this topic already...
o So we're all just repeating what we all already know, I fear.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to discuss this with occam.

[John C.]

s|b wrote:
> John C. wrote:
>>
>> Looks like it has some kind of involvement with Google Calendar for
>> scheduling calls. If that's a requirement though, that would be a
>> deal-killer.
>
> AFAIK that's not a requirement. I installed Zoom a while ago and prefer
> it to Teams (which my employer uses). You can receive invites through
> e-mail without it having linked to Google Calendar.

Thanks for that info!

[John C.]

Good thing, because Facebook recently denied me an account and wouldn't
give me a reason. They said it was forever too.

Guess I pissed them off by cancelling my last account and telling other
people how to do it.

[Yakker]

"John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote in

news:rqjb9a$d00$2...@dont-email.me:

> Facebook recently denied me an account and
> wouldn't give me a reason. They said it was forever too.

That should be easy to get around but be a good boy. Read only should
keep you out of trouble. They'll also get pounds of flesh from you.



--
Steve (--)

I filter using XNEWS.
If you expect a response and don't see it,
don't take it personally.

[VanguardLH]

"John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I'm interested in video calling because of the pandemic. Many doctors
> will only see you that via teleconference.

Telemedicine uses the conferencing software and services of their
choice, not yours. When you schedule a telemedicine "call", you use
what they use. It's their service, it's their choice. Basically you
use a smartphone app (which are mini web browsers to connect to a
specfic site and service) or use web video (via web browser) that they
choose (usually a 3rd party service vendor using HIPAA compliant video
conferencing tools). The method is not a choice on your end. They
setup the method, and that's what you use.

Say Zoom was your choice for video conferencing. For health
institutions to use Zoom means Zoom would have to prove they were HIPAA
compliant.

https://blog.zoom.us/introducing-zoom-for-telehealth/

Okay, so Zoom is a possibility, but that doesn't mean YOUR health
provider uses Zoom. Although I haven't used it, looks like my health
provider uses Virtuwell's service. Even if your health provider uses
Zoom's HIPAA service, I don't see how that would provide a payment
system. Maybe your insurance covers telemedicine, but it may not, so
the health providers needs to ensure they get paid.

Don't base your choice of video teleconferencing software or service on
what you might like to use between friends. Even then, you and your
friends are going to decide which method to use. Unlikely it will be
"my way or the highway" choice. For telemedicine, don't bother
pre-installing any software until you actually use your health
provider's telemedicine service. You'll use whatever they've setup.
When you use it is when you find out what they tell you to use. If you
switch to another health provider, or your family is split on health
providers, a different one could easily use something else.

[Nicodemus]

VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote in news:zug0wazq...@v.nguard.lh:

And doctors used to make house calls

[Nicodemus]

"John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote in news:rqjb9a$d00$2...@dont-email.me:

or they figured out that you are a ball buster who has no other purpose
in life, unlike my self who has no purpose in life and browsing through
the remains of what used to be a bunch of like minded posters sharing
their experiences using freeware.
Cheers

[John C.]

VanguardLH wrote:

All good points. I did have health problems earlier this year and yes, I
did a video conference with my doctor. It was as you say, I had to use
their HIPAA compliant web service. It was a real PITA to get to work. I
bought my laptop mainly because I was going to use it for this purpose,
but believe it or not, their web service wouldn't run in W10. Instead, I
wound up using this W7 computer and my Logitech webcam, which worked.

Regardless, I intend to use the video call software mainly for getting
in touch with relatives and friends. I have a relative who is stuck in
the Philippines because of the CV.

[John C.]

Yakker wrote:

> John C. wrote:
>>
>> Facebook recently denied me an account and
>> wouldn't give me a reason. They said it was forever too.
>
> That should be easy to get around but be a good boy. Read only should
> keep you out of trouble. They'll also get pounds of flesh from you.

Probably just use something else that's not affiliated with Facebook.

[Karen]

On 12/5/2020 5:26 PM, John C. wrote:
> I would like to be able to do video calls on my PC with my relatives and
> friends. A cousin gave me a video camera that I can plug in when I want
> to use it. However, I've never done video calls before and don't have
> any idea which program is the best. I know all about the privacy I'll
> sacrifice, but at my age I'll be dead before they can come after me
> probably.
>
> Can anybody recommend a good, popular, freeware program for doing video
> calls?
>
> I had Skype installed until a little while ago when I removed it because
> it refused to start. Never used the program, but at least it used to
> start when I double clicked on the shortcut.
>
> Anyway, is Skype the best or can anybody recommend anything else that is
> fairly mainstream?
>
> TIA
>

John: I've been using BROSIX for about 6 years; it's loaded with
features and has been trouble free. They recently changed the name of
their free version, and details are here:
https://brx.chat

It's worth your investigation.

[John C.]

Thanks, but I've pretty much settled on Zoom. I'll bookmark the Brosix
website and keep it in mind though.

[kelown]

I like Jitsi. Free, Works well, supports anonymous login, and web
browser or smartphone meetings.

[John C.]

Thanks! That's quite a list all right. Are any of them just for smart
phones though? Because what I'm looking for (as this group's name
implies) is something for a computer. In particular, a desktop PC.

[kelown]

>> I like Jitsi. Free, Works well, supports anonymous login, and web
>> browser or smartphone meetings.
>
> Thanks! That's quite a list all right. Are any of them just for smart
> phones though? Because what I'm looking for (as this group's name
> implies) is something for a computer. In particular, a desktop PC.

The vast majority of consumer-level videoconferencing apps support
Android (via app) and Windows (via browser or dedicated app), at least.