Audio Chat

You need a broadband connection (not a dial-up modem connection) to audio 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 also work very well for audio chats.

To start an audio chat:

1.	If your buddy displays a telephone icon in the Buddy List, then you can start an audio chat: Double-click the phone icon next to her name.
2.	An invitation to chat is sent to the buddy and the small window shown below opens.
3.	Your buddy will hear a telephone sound ringing from her computer; she has to click the button to "Accept" the call. Start talking.
4.	To add more people to your audio chat, click the + button to get a list of available buddies to add.

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. All current Mac laptops have built-in microphones.
2.	Open iChat. From the iChat menu, choose "Preferences....," then click the "Video" icon in the toolbar.
3.	From the "Microphone" pop-up menu, choose a source for audio. iSight Built-in. If you have an Apple iSight camera connected, choose this. If you have some other FireWire video camera connected, the camera name or model number appears in this pop-up menu. Internal microphone. Use the built-in microphone in your laptop. Line In. Use this if you have an external microphone connected to your Mac through the Line In port.