Audio Chats


You can audio chat with other iChat users that have a microphone connected or built in to their computer. You can audio chat with buddies anywhere in the world for free. If your computer meets the minimum requirements (listed below), you can audio chat with up to ten people at a time. Wow.

Tip

You need a broadband connection (not a dial-up modem connection) to audio or video chat. Travelers will be pleased to know that many hotels and lodges around the world provide broadband connections. The broadband wireless connections (Wi-Fi) that many coffee shops provide work very well.


Set up for audio chats

Audio chats require almost no setup. In fact, the settings below are automatic and you don't need to change them unless you have a problem connecting.

1.

Make sure you have a microphone connected or built in to your Mac.

2.

Open iChat. From the iChat menu choose "Preferences…," then click the "Video" icon in the toolbar to open the Video Preferences pane.

Extra tip for frequent travelers

Sign up for a T-mobile Hot Spot wireless account. Starbucks all over the world provide Hot Spot connections. And the connection stays on 24/7, even when Starbucks is closed (as the photo below shows).


3.

From the "Microphone" pop-up menu, choose a source for audio. Choose "iSight Built-in" if you have an Apple iSight camera connected. If you have some other FireWire video camera connected, the camera name or model number appears in this pop-up menu. Choose "Internal microphone" if you want to use the built-in internal microphone that came with your computer. Choose "Line In" if you have an external microphone connected to your computer through the Line In port.

Minimum requirements for audio chats

It takes a more powerful computer and a faster Internet connection to initiate a multi-person audio chat than it does to participate in one.

To initiate an audio chat, this is what you need

Robin sends messages home from the steps of a closed Starbucks (across the street from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre).

  • 1-to-1 chat:

    Any G3, G4, or G5

    56 Kbps Internet connection (this could be a dial-up modem)

  • Multi-person chat (up to ten people):

    1 GHz G4, a dual 800 MHz G4, or any G5, running Tiger

    128 Kbps Internet connection, both ways (upload and download)

To participate in an audio chat, this is what you need
  • 1-to-1 chat:

    Any G3, G4, or G5

    56 Kbps Internet connection (this could be a dial-up modem)

  • Multi-person chat (up to ten people):

    Any G3, G4, or G5, running Tiger

  • 56 Kbps Internet connection (this could be a dial-up modem)

Start a 1-to-1 audio chat

1.

Open iChat.

2.

Select a buddy in the iChat window that shows an "Audio Chat" icon (a telephone) to the right of the buddy name. You can also audio chat with a buddy that shows a "Video Chat" icon (a video camera), in case you're still in your pajamas. Or not.

3.

To start an audio chat, click the "Audio Chat" icon next to the buddy name. Or click the "Audio Chat" button at the bottom of the window (shown on the right). Or, from the Buddies menu, choose "Invite to Audio Chat." Or Control-click on a buddy, then choose "Invite to Audio Chat" in the contextual menu.

The icon to the right of a buddy name indicates what kind of chat is possible. A multi-person phone icon (above) means you can have a multi-person audio chat with that buddy.

4.

An audio panel opens on your Desktop, waiting for your buddy to accept the invitation, as shown below.

5.

On the buddy's Desktop, the audio chat invitation appears. When the buddy clicks on the invitation, it opens into the audio chat panel shown below-right. The buddy chooses to "Decline" or "Accept" the invitation. The buddy can also choose a "Text Reply" if audio is inappropriate at the moment.

Invitation to an audio chat.

6.

Once the audio chat invitation has been accepted, you can talk back and forth just as if you were using a telephone. The audio chat panel shows an animated sound level meter and provides a volume slider so you can adjust the chat volume.

End a 1-to-1 audio chat

To end an audio chat, just click the red Close button in the top-left corner of the "Audio Chat" panel. Either party can end an audio chat at any time.

Start a multi-person audio chat

Once you've started an audio chat with one person, you're just a click away from audio conferencing with up to ten buddies at a time.

1.

Start a 1-to-1 audio chat, as described on the previous page.

2.

To add another buddy to the chat, Control-click on another buddy in the Buddy List. From the pop-up contextual menu choose "Invite to Audio Chat," as shown below-right.

3.

The audio chat window expands (below-left) to show that you're waiting for a response. When the invited buddy accepts your invitation, he appears in your chat window as another sound level meter (below-center). To invite another buddy to the chat, click the plus button (+) and choose a buddy from the pop-up menu (below-right). Or use the procedure described in Step 2.

Waiting for a response from an invited buddy.

The buddy has accepted. To add another buddy, click the + button. The pop-up menu (right) includes buddies that can be invited.

To remove a buddy from a multi-person audio chat, hover the pointer over the buddy until a red circle-x appears (shown above). Click on the circle-x to remove the buddy. That person will be alerted that everyone has left the chat. Only the person that initiated the chat can remove participants from it.



    Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps. A guide to iLife '05,  .Mac, and more.
    Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps. A guide to iLife '05, .Mac, and more.
    ISBN: 321335902
    EAN: N/A
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 277

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