iChat has been built for Mac’s OS X operating system. Originally designed as a chat tool, it gained web conferencing capabilities as it evolved. And although it was not developed with a business user in mind, this tool has a number of useful features for web and video conferencing alike.
iChat at a Glance
Bottom-Line: This tool is simply beautiful, and like most Mac products, incredibly user-friendly and easy to use.
Pros: It is reliable, and includes all of the most important web conferencing tools such as screen sharing, slide sharing, chat, video conferencing and one-click meetings.
Cons: Only available on Mac machines. Users need an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Google Talk or MobileMe account to use this tool, so it’s not possible to sign up directly for an iChat account.
Price: Free and comes installed in every Mac computer.
Getting Started
iChat has been designed with the home-user in mind, and as such, is not a traditional business tool. Therefore, those who want to use iChat for their business meetings, have to sign up for a consumer service in order to gain access to the tool. Supported services include AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Google Talk account and MobileMe (which costs $99 per year). This can be a bit cumbersome, as there is no way for signing up for iChat alone.
However, once sign up with one of the above services is done, all users have to do is add each other to their contacts list, and they are ready for 1-click conferencing.
Beautiful User Interface
The first thing iChat users will notice is its beautiful interface. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, but also makes this application extremely easy to use, as it is clean and intuitive. This means that even those new to web and video conferencing will be able to easily get to grips with iChat. It has a roomy window with no borders, so there is extra space for text and images.
To make it easy to see if a user is available, iChat’s ‘buddy list’ has a green, yellow or red icon that displays a contact’s status. If a user is color-blind, they can change that setting to display different shapes in place of colors. In addition, every contact on the list also has an icon, making it easy to instantly recognize people.
Those who use iChat primarily for text chats can also benefit from a tabbed chat option, so there is no crowding of the screen due to several chat windows being open. It is also possible to chat with multiple people at the same time.
Innovative Video Conferencing
iChat provides a 3D interface for video conferencing, which supports up to three people, plus the host. While this is less than other video conferencing tools, it is still useful for smaller meetings between Mac users. Users can also create backdrops for their video conferences, so they can make it look like they are having a conversation in a conference room, for example. iChat also provides its own backdrops, which include a roller coaster, the Eiffel Tower or clouds, for those more creative meetings. Users can also video conference in full screen for a larger image of conference participants.
This tool also benefits from great video quality, and images are sharp and do not tend to lag. Another benefit of iChat is that even when users are sharing slides, they can still be seen, so there is no interruption to video transmission when another activity starts.