About computer to computer voice and video chat

This article is about voice or video chat from one computer to another. You can also learn more about making and receiving landline or wireless phone calls in Gmail.

Since sometimes reading "lol" doesn't deliver the same punch as actually hearing your friend laugh at your jokes, you can now use voice and video capabilities in your Gmail, iGoogle and orkut chat. From within these services, you can have an actual conversation with someone (seriously, out loud), or even chat face to face over video.
See how computer to computer voice and video chat works in Gmail:
Here's what you'll need to get started:

• Download the voice and video chat plug-in, quit all open browser windows, and install the plug-in.
• Sign in to Gmail, iGoogle or orkut.
• In your chat list, select the contact you want to call. If they have a camera icon next to their name, you can make a voice or video call to them; just click the camera icon to place a video call or the phone icon to place a voice call.

If your friend doesn't have a camera next to their name in your chat list, you can invite them to download the voice and video chat plug-in from the Video & more menu in a chat window. Even if your friend doesn't have a video camera, you can still have a voice chat or a 1-way video chat.
If you don't have a camera yet and want to get one, here are some cameras that we know work well with voice and video chat:

• For Windows desktops: Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, Logitech QuickCam Communicate MP
• For Windows laptops: Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks
• For Mac: Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac