Phil Hurt Video-Chatting from Houston
(Posted 12/16/06) - My brother Phillip, his wife Imogene, and their four dogs recently moved from Martinsville, IL to Houston, TX. We used to talk several times a week and often visited each other (Martinsville and Casey are just 6 miles from each other). Now 1200 miles separates us!
My son Jon, and Phil's daughter Allyson figured out a way to keep us in touch. She bought Phil a notebook computer and webcam, which Jon setup and configured to work with Live Messenger before they moved to Houston. Phillip needed to have a broadband wireless connection setup at his new home in Houston so several weeks went by after the move with only a couple of phone calls to keep in touch.
Yesterday I received the first Video-Call from my brother! My computer rang and when I answered we were looking at each other and talking as though we were sitting across from one another at the table. Now we can communicate in a much more pleasant way, and it doesn't cost anything extra (other than our monthly broadband connection fees).
At this point I'm in a network with my Grandson Matt, my son Jon, and my brother Phillip. We can all contact each other via the internet and use our webcams to do face to face video calling. I love this technology (except when something breaks or needs to be reset).