Five apps for video calls and collaboration

Google+ Hangouts

If you have a Google+ account, you can create a hangout where one or more of your friends can join you for a video chat. The whole thing is easy to set up and use (but a bit difficult to find, at first).

Start by going to your Google+ page. In the Hangouts area on the right, click Start A Hangout. Specify whether you want to invite everyone in your circles or just selected people and then click Hang Out.

Google+ Hangouts

If none of your contacts are playing around on Google+, you'll see a sad little robot telling you the whole place is empty. But you can still send an invitation or two. When those folks log on to Google+, they'll be notified that they have been invited to a hangout. Others in your circles can also see that you're hanging out because it's plastered all over your Google+ page.

Tango

Tango is a popular video communications app that is similar in approach to Skype -- free calls between mobile devices or between computers and phones, as long as you've downloaded and installed Tango. I have a Windows Phone and downloaded Tango, but unfortunately I couldn't try out the video feature.

Tango

You can search for friends in your contact list who have already installed Tango or send invitations to those you want to try the app with you. You can also change Tango settings to control when the app starts, check for updates, and manage the microphone and camera you're using.

Skype

Skype has become so popular that it's a verb in its own right: "Want to Skype later? It's available for computers and mobile devices of all sorts. You can use Skype to call anyone who has it, anywhere in the world, for free. And those calls can be either voice calls or video calls, depending on whether you have a webcam or a phone with video handy.

Skype

Skype has recently introduced a Facebook video-call option so that you can use Skype from within Facebook by clicking the Call button at the top of a Facebook friend's profile. If you want to spring for Skype Premium at $4.99 per month, you can video chat with up to 10 people at once. If you're happy with the free version of Skype, you're limited to one-to-one video calls.

AIM Video Chat

The AIM chat service now pulls together all your contacts from a variety of places (like Facebook and Twitter) and coordinates your communications in one easy-to-track place. For video communications using your AIM account, it seems to be a passable service, although video isn't its primary offering.

AIM Video Chat

You can start a chat session and click the video camera icon to open up a video call window. The rest is pretty straightforward. One odd thing here is that both my webcam and my microphone were turned off by default at first. So if others can't see or hear you during your video call, click Settings and make sure both the camera and mic are active.

You can also use AIM’s Video Chat tool on the Web to have a quick video call without logging in anywhere or downloading the AIM client to your desktop. It’s pretty basic but does the trick when you want a fast face-to-face.

ooVoo

ooVoo is another popular video, audio, and text app that enables you to stay in touch with friends and family using your desktop computer or your favorite mobile devices. You can create a six-way video chat, call mobile phones or land lines, text chat in a group, share your desktop, place Web video calls with others who aren't even using ooVoo, and share files up to 25MB in size. All for free.

ooVoo

ooVoo makes it fairly simple to install and start a video call. Be forewarned, though: You will be inundated with advertising. In fact, while I was writing this section, I had a sneezing fit -- blasted allergies! -- so the tissue ad was brilliantly timed targeted marketing.

ooVoo

If you don't mind the continual rotating ads, ooVoo does have a number of features that redeem it. You can add folks to your conversation on the fly, change the display, record your conversation for later, and take snapshots of the screen.