Tweet

After returning from Facebook headquarters to hear Mark Zuckerberg make his “awesome” announcement, I had a chance to try out the new Facebook video chat which is powered by Skype.  The service lets you establish a call with anyone who is currently a Facebook friend.  You can’t chat with non-friends and you can’t chat with Skype users who aren’t using Facebook.  Also new is a “buddy list” windows on the right side of the monitor, assuming your monitor is big enough. You might not see it if you’re using a notebook PC.

Starting the process

The process begins with setting up a text chat with someone which you can now do by clicking on that person’s name in the sidebar (assuming you have a large enough monitor). Once you’re in the chat window, click on the video camera in the top blue bar.

 

You will see a message telling you that you’re waiting for the person to answer.

The person who you calling will see a message asking them to accept that call.

 

And once the call is connected, you’ll see the person in the main window and yourself in a small window in the upper left of the screen.

When you’re done, click the X in the upper right corner to close the window and end the call.