ooVoo: Video Chat Like Brad Pitt

Posted by: Olga Kharif on February 29

I am hearing that some Skype enthusiasts are migrating over to a new cool service called ooVoo. The start-up specializes in free, high-quality video conferencing via the Web. And while, today, it’s not a big threat to Skype – ooVoo enabled a mere 1 million video calls last month – it could yet emerge as such.

Here’s the difference between Skype and ooVoo: “We are based on video, Skype is based on telephony,” explains Philip Robertson, director of marketing communications at ooVoo. The start-up, which launched its service last summer, claims its video calls are of much higher quality. It also offers many cool features. Users can record video calls. To do that in Skype, you need to download extra applications. You can also use visual effects: ooVoo can help you grow a virtual mustache or to start looking like Brad Pitt.

In the coming months, ooVoo is looking to offer even more cool services. It’s working on allowing geographically dispersed buddies to watch a Webcast of a football game together on, say, half a computer screen, while chatting about the game at the same time. It’s also developing ways to allow businesses to brainstorm on virtual whiteboards during video conferences. Today, you need to buy expensive, enterprise-grade video conferencing systems or software to do that.