Festoon Allows You to Video Conference Using Any Instant Messenger Service

Free software is one of my favorite things in the world, and now I found Festoon which is a free program that allows users to have video conference calls using any IM service they want. This is an awesome tool for nearly anyone, if you just want to call a friend in another state, or a soldier over seas, or if you want use it in your business, it works for all purposes. At no cost to the users other than having to use other free services like Skype or Google Talk, and the IM service of your choice.

Festoon is a program that works with Skype (an internet voice over IP service which is also free) or Google Talk (which is Google's answer to Skype). Although Festoon works with either they suggest Skype and it generally works better in my opinion. Although Festoon isn't a flawless program it is definitely improving fast, the developers are always making the program work better and they listen to their clients suggestions. The program is simple you launch it in connection with either Skype or Google Talk and your favorite IM service and you can have video conference calls with friends, family, or co-workers. The program is totally free to use, you have to download and use other free programs with it but hey all of them are free too so it isn't a big deal.

Festoon is a great program for fun and maybe even small business uses but other than that I don't think Sprint is going to replace their in house video conferencing software with Festoon. Festoon does a good job with what it has; there is some lag in the voice and video quality. Sometimes the sound doesn't match up with the person you are seeing lip movements. The programmers are working on this but it still hasn't been perfected. There is also audio drop off's where someone might say something but it is overridden by another persons conversation, again the programmers are working on solving this issue so the conversation flows better and more naturally. With a release nearly every year Festoon isn't being developed as quickly as some users would like but hey it's a free program so stop complaining.

To use the program all you have to do is go to http://www.festooninc.com/ download the software, install the program, get Skype (http://www.skype.com/) or Google Talk (http://www.google.com/talk/) and then use one of the popular IM services. AIM, YAHOO, and MSN are the most popular and all work with Festoon. After you install all of the programs and are ready to use Festoon, make sure you visit the FAQ (http://www.festooninc.com/content/FAQ.htm) and make sure all the settings are set properly so you won't have any issues when you try to make your first video conference call.

Festoon isn't a business solution that is perfect for everyone there are some bugs still needing to be worked out in the program. The program is however free so you will have to weigh free software to the problems it has and see which one triumphs if you plan on using this as your business video conferencing tool. I personally use it to talk to my grandma in PA and friends that are in San Diego, it's nice to be able to see them when I talk to them since I never see them.

This would be the perfect tool for the military family to use when they get shipped over seas. Just think how nice it would be to be able to see that man or woman in your life that is thousands of miles away for months or years at a time. Make sure that you both have all of the software components needed to operate Festoon installed on both computers you are using; otherwise you won't be able to talk.

I also think that this could be a great way to check up on the kids when you are away on a business trip or vacation. Call in and have them show the webcam around the house, checking for parties or uninvited guests. The internet is expanding so fast and so are free software programs that are very powerful. Festoon is an amazing product that is offered free to users, it may not be perfected but it sure does work well. This wont be a replacement for any high tech video conferencing software but it works well for fun and small business needs.

Go get Festoon and try it out, who knows you might even like the software enough to use it. The most its going to cost you is the time it takes to download and install the software so what do you have to lose? Hope you like Festoon I will keep finding free software tools for us all to use!