Anyone here using ooVoo? Be ready for some changes...

[lake_wrangler]

I attend a weekly video conference call Bible study every Saturday morning, using ooVoo (works like Skype), and lead one such on Monday nights.

I was surprised to see that ooVoo seems to have taken a page from Microsoft's playbook, concerning their latest version...

Here's a copy of an email I sent to my own group members, to give you an idea of what happened, and for them to get ready ahead of time...

Hi gang.

I went to attend [name redacted]'s ooVoo group this morning, and was surprised to find out that there had been changes at ooVoo... First, they have an upgrade, and will not let you function with your old version: they force you to upgrade, or will not let you continue on. Second, that upgrade may or may not download from just clicking on the link provided by the main ooVoo program. More likely than not, you will need to go to the ooVoo website itself, click on download apps (towards the bottom, in the black section), and select whether you want the version for Windows, Mac, Iphone/Ipad, or Android.

For Windows users, there is an additional complication, if you happen to be using Norton Antivirus: Norton thinks the setup file is dangerous and proceeds to quarantine it automatically! (It seems to come from the fact that not many Norton users have yet indicated in Norton that the file is safe and that they use it, so Norton doesn't take a chance. And of course, not many people have used the file yet, this version is brand new...) So you will either need to temporarily disable Norton Antivirus, in order to download and install the ooVoo setup file (make sure to enable Norton again afterwards), or know how to go into the Norton Quarantine and unquarantine the file, in order to start it.

Once you have done all that, you will notice that the interface is totally redesigned, and some of the features seem to have disappeared (like the ability, under Settings, to test your audio and video equipment, or the ability to select another microphone or webcam, while already engaged in a video call...) I don't know what else is changed, it will take a while to relearn everything. (They have added some functionality as well, but it sounds like stuff we probably won't need much...) But it does work, albeit with some quirks (like when I was on the phone with someone, and they tried to call me on ooVoo, and I could hear the ring tone on their end, but my ooVoo was showing me no indication that someone was trying to call... But when I called them, on ooVoo, it worked. Go figure...)

So there will be a learning curve. And I suppose that reading all the documentation on their website will help. In the meantime, I strongly suggest that you go and install the new version over the weekend, rather than just before Monday's meeting, as you will end up wasting a lot of time (in [name redacted]s meeting, we ended up wasting 1h10m [out of a 2 hour meeting]... I even connected to [name redacted]'s computer [via TeamViewer], to help her install it, and tried to walk someone else through it over the phone...)

If that sounds too complicated for you, there is another option: if you go directly to the oovoo.com website in your web browser, it will prompt you to log in. Doing so will give you the same functionality (I think - I don't know if any functions are missing) in your web browser as the standalone program does, allowing you to call people up and participate in video calls.

Good luck!

What were they thinking!

[Dave]

What were they thinking!

"We have a great new idea for how it can be done better. And, we are ooVoo. We are smart! S M R T smart! We don't need to talk this over with our users first! We don't need to give them a choice! They will naturally all bow down and honor their new teleconference overlords!"



'tis an oft-told tale.

[lake_wrangler]

That sounds about right...

And, we are ooVoo.

Hey, good choice on the color selection, to reflect their own color palette...

[TazManiac]

Reaching out, BEFOREHAND, to the top users of the App (seems this type of program lends itself to them being able to determine who's using it at any given time...),

well, that's asking too much. You know, thinking things through.

Proactive is just a word after all.

And pondering 'whats going to come of us, come Monday morning?"..., yeah, that too Last Century.

[Atomic]

"... and remember our motto at Mega Self-Rightous Twaddle Tech -- 'You Deserve Us!'"

[Alkarii]

It almost seems like some folks don't want people to use their software/services, given the way this sort of thing keeps happening lately.

If someone comes along with software that does what people want, and manages to never pull this sort of stunt, they'll only need publicity.

[lake_wrangler]

I was on the ooVoo website, and they say they have 185 million users... I can't help but wonder how many of those are now disgruntled...


Incidentally, the organization I am a member of, the one through which I am attending and leading a Bible study, has decided to go over to Skype, instead.

And while I don't care much for the fact that Skype was bought by MS, at least they have bothered making a Linux version. If it works well (you never know, sometimes some companies don't put as much functionality in Linux counterparts to their Windows program, and/or they change the interface), I may no longer have to switch to Windows twice a week for my video conference calls... I'll only need to do so whenever I choose to work on my friend's MS Access database.