With the release of ooVoo 1.6 (no longer in Beta), there have been a few changes. The main ones being a FREE and Paid version. What does this mean to the average ooVoo user?
The Free version of ooVoo includes:
- 3 person video chat
- text chat
- unlimited video messages (60 seconds)
- some video effects
- file sharing
The Paid version of ooVoo includes:
- 6 person video chat
- text chat
- unlimited 5 minute video messages
- up to 1000 minutes of video storage and streaming
- lots of fun video effects
- file sharing
Cost: $10 US per month.
Phone calls to the USA & Canada are an extra $5 US per month. (500 mins on the free account and 3000 mins on the Super account)
If you are a heavy ooVoo user like myself, there is no option other than the paid ooVoo Super account.
I have received opinions from lots of people, some good, some bad. Alot are still undecided on what option to choose.
Here are my suggestions on what I think ooVoo should consider:
The FREE account – stays as it is but should include small banner ads at the bottom of the video chat window. (still alot better than Skype, MSN,Yahoo etc.)
Super account – As above but with a yearly charge of maybe $50 – $60 (maybe small banner ads as well)
PRO account – 8 person video (No banner ads), maybe increase some of the current features in the Super account and charge $10 month.
This way there will be revenue coming in from all ooVoo accounts. The costs involved in providing a service like ooVoo must be huge, so I have no objections in paying for this quality product. I personally feel a bit more thought, or maybe a survey of users may have helped in providing the feedback.
That said, I will be going for the full Super account. I consider myself a heavy user, constantly having 6 way video chats so the benefits outweigh the negatives for me. I know my wife (also a heavy ooVoo user) will probably get the Super account as well. (Note: maybe thats another consideration for ooVoo, what about a family plan of some sort as I would be paying $360 US per year for 3 Super accounts)
I am more than happy with ooVoo. The video/sound quality are by far the best I have used so if you haven’t tried ooVoo yet, go to www.ooVoo.com and download the Windows version. The Mac version is also available albeit in Beta at this present time.
