Sending e-mail is a great way to keep in touch but requires time between sending your e-mail and receiving a reply. By using instant messaging, video chat, and Voice over IP (VoIP) phone services, you can instantly see and hear friends, family, and colleagues from around the world while you communicate in real time.
Instant messaging (IM) today is used as much in business as it is in personal life. Instead of having to send an e-mail or pick up the phone, you can just quickly instant message someone with a question and get an almost instant response. There are lots of different IM applications that you can use, but since your MacBook comes with iChat, let's start with that one.
Open iChat from the Applications window or by launching it from the Dock. You'll see the Welcome to iChat screen, shown here, that gives you some information about the features included. Click Continue. You will need an IM account to use iChat.
You can sign up for a MobileMe or Mac.com account, or if you have an AOL Instant Messenger, you can add it as well. Enter your account type and then your account or username information and password. Click Continue and then click Done to finish.
You can't chat by yourself, so you'll need to add some friends to chat with. Add a buddy to your account by clicking the + button at the bottom of the iChat window. You will need to enter account information for your friend, such as their username and the type of account they have. iChat supports accounts from MobileMe, AIM, GoogleTalk, and Jabber.
Double-click a buddy's name to start a conversation with them. Offline contacts will appear under the heading Offline. A new chat window will open. Type your message and press ENTER or RETURN. When they reply, you will see their text in a different speech bubble next to an icon or photo representing the person you are chatting with, as shown here. You might have noticed that your user photo or icon appears next to your text, too.
You can have multiple chat windows open at one time if you are a multitasker. You can video chat with iChat too. If your contact has video chat capability, there will be a camera icon next to their name. Click the camera to start a video chat. iChat comes with special effects that you can use to liven up your video image, if you're feeling creative (or mysterious).
Voice over IP (VoIP) is the technology that enables you to make telephone calls from your computer. A lot of people find this to be a great option for keeping in touch with friends and family members overseas because making calls is cheap or free. Some people use VoIP as their primary telephone at home for all their calls. How you use it is up to you.
There are two very popular services for VoIP, although there are a lot more to choose from. Vonage is one you might have heard about. You can sign up for an account and Vonage will send you a special modem that you can use to make calls through your Internet service for a monthly fee.
Skype is another very popular option. It doesn't require any special equipment and can be used for instant messaging with other Skype contacts, video messaging, and video phone calls. Both Vonage and Skype offer paid services that include the option to purchase an 800 number or a virtual local number almost anywhere in the world.
This is handy, for example, if you live in San Francisco but have a child attending college in New York. You can purchase a New York virtual number so that whenever your kid wants to call home, the call is free. Likewise, you can purchase international numbers, so a person living in England can purchase a United States number for their U.S. family to call, and vice versa.
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