How To Make Video Calls On Facebook

In my Google+ feature published yesterday, I had mentioned towards the end, that Facebook needs to be proactive in order to combat the new social networking rival. FB responded swiftly by unveiling a new feature that allows you to make video calls right through the browser interface, just like Google+ does with its Hangout feature. We finally know what CEO Mark Zuckerberg meant, when he had announced last week that the company had planned to "...launch something awesome" this week. I tried my hands at Google+ yesterday, and today I am going to try to find out if this new video calling feature in FB is a fitting retaliation.

The new video calling feature has been made possible, thanks to the partnership between FB and Skype. Of course, you don't need to install Skype; a small plug-in takes care of the software requirements. On the hardware front, you need a webcam, a headset \ speakers, and a microphone.


Let's start with the basics, beginning with opening www.facebook.com/videocalling. The main page has a video on the right, explaining the feature. The Skype logo at the bottom of the screen reinforces the fact that it is powered by theVoIP provider.

FB Videocalling main page

To get started, you can click on the green Get Started button on the left of the screen. Assuming that you have already logged into Facebook, a chat window will pop up on the right hand side, listing all your online FB contacts. Click on one of them to proceed

Alternatively, you can start the chat directly from your online friend's profile by clicking on the Call button located on the right hand side of the screen near the top.

Calls can be initiated directly from your friend's profile

Once the chat window is open, you can click on the camera icon present on the title bar towards the left to initiate a video call