More Than Words
by Mary Tolentino
Communication
quality through the net has improved significantly and has become used
friendly even for those who considered themselves technologically
challenged. Present day Infrastructure has made possible real-time
communication on print, video or voice with no downtime on response
making interactive communication truly possible.
YM or Yahoo Messenger is downloadable from the Yahoo site (http://www.yahoo.com)
and installs as an executable file or exe. It is safe since you only
connect to those you have invited and have accepted your invitation.
Similarly, files, photos, music and video can only be shared if the
receiver agrees to accept. Having a microphone and a camera enhances
the interactivity. You can chat with one or chat with a group – you can
even choose “not to be seen” for privacy reasons, save the ‘chat’
files, go to websites sent to you, send and receive messages to and
from mobile phones or continue to work with the computer with the YM
running unobtrusively in the background but able to take messages. You
can receive offline messages and be alerted to mail or messages by a
“buzz” when online. Teleconferencing is now a breeze and best of all,
it is cheap.
Skype (with video version) is best for good
quality voice and video calls. Executable file appropriate for your
installed OS or operating system can be downloaded free from http://www.skype.com and intalls automatically when the option ‘Run’ is selected.
The corporate and academic use of chat has increased and has made communication efficient, timely and secure.
Here’s
how it looks when you go enter YM and some of the many options relevant
to education. Needless to say it is fun on personal basis.
Some features such as PC-PC calls
If you have an existing e-mail account (Yahoo ID) you may use this to activate YM.
A few benefits of YM
Some options you can choose from
Receiving voice file:
Active YM with two cameras
This
is the Skype website, your other option for making pc-pc calls and paid
pc-landline calls – the exe file can be downloaded from here. After
installation, Skype has an easy to follow wizard that take you from
creating a skype account to test voice and finally using the program.
Contributed by:
Mary Tolentino
Vice President/School Director
IMPACT (Institute of Manpower & Computer Technology)
Negros Occidental, Philippines
SMART Internet Content Consultant
Email: client_first@yahoo.com
