Video confrencing at your fingertips..

Video chatting via a webcam is nothing new but attempting to explain how to use a webcam over a text messaging service with your parents or even the grandparents is not always smooth sailing. We have had some technical issues in the past especially when you just want to get up and talking, ie on holidays, that has made it sort of a hohum topic. There is nothing I want more than to be able to turn on the webcam and let Connor's grandparents in IL talk to him anytime they like and he is finally at that age now where he'd actually be interested in talking to them not just sitting there staring blankly at the screen mind you I still have no clue what he is saying 99% of the time but its sure cute to watch him try.

Tokbox is a new service that takes all the guesswork out of your webcam. I tested it out on a laptop and all I did was make my free account and log in. Tokbox found the webcam, started it up, and I was all ready to talk. Only problem is who exactly was I going to talk to? No one was online that had a webcam ready so instead we made a video card, yes I said video card, and mailed it away to some friends. Actually I can't think of a cooler and cheaper way to send holiday cards this Christmas to family far away. There are different theme's available and you can make a video of yourself talking from the tummy of a turkey, with a little thanksgiving theme, and though there are no Christmas themes up yet I'm sure there will be soon and either way what would be cuter than to tape Connor "singing" and use that as a video Christmas card? It sure beats those printed cards with a picture.

Tokbox does so much more though.. you can email videos to friends and family, set up live video chats or conferences, or even make a video post to your Tokbox account which you can share with the world or even then embed in your blog or other service. Hello, all those video bloggers .. hint hint.

Go check out Tokbox for yourself I promise its pretty cool and the perfect place to start for those of you who have webcams but just don't know what to do with them yet. A big thanks to Mom Central for letting us know about it. Possibly you may see some video posts via Tokbox here soon!