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A Full-Time 2-Way Video Link To Grandparents?

Posted by timothy on from the picturephones-with-voip dept.

uid7306m writes "We have elderly parents who live a long way off. However, my technological radar tells me that it's possible to set up a 24/7 video link between our kitchen and theirs. It'd be good for our kids and good for the parents, and we can now get pretty cheap nearly unlimited broadband connections at this end (UK). What's the best way to do it? Has anyone tried it? On the far end, it ought to have, in Dilbert's(TM) immortal words 'One big button on it, and we push it for you in the factory.'"

9 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Apple iChat by )parenthesis( · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, a PC with the Windows AIM client works very well with a Mac running iChat. I do it with my friends in Ohio all the time. So you could get your grandparents a cheap MacBook (or Mini), and you (assuming you're running a Windows box) only have to pitch in for a AIM-compatible webcam. Or if you wanted to go the Linux route, you could use Skype on your Platform Of Choice(tm).

  2. Hard videophone is the option by neutrino38 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We have bought a pair of Grandstream videophone. The are cheap and much easier to use than PC for older people as they are basically ... telephones.

    You can even setup Grandpa's one in auto-answer mode but I would not recommend it for obvious privacy issues as one of the comments above maliciously reminded.

    AH and to overcome NAT and dynamic IP address issues, you have to setup a hosted SIP proxy and media relay such as Asterisk. I cheat here as this the very business of my company.

    By the way if you want a pair of free SIP accounts and the Grandstream videophone, we could sell them to you.

  3. Re:Apple iChat by rwven · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just for anyone who hasn't tried iChat, I've used a LOT of video conferencing software and iChat's video conferencing is leaps and bounds ahead of anything else out there for the mainstream.

    I have no idea what they do to preserve so much video quality on the trip, but it's astoundingly good. Comparing it to Skype or regular AIM (or MSN or what-have-you) chat is pretty laughable and anyone who's really compared will vouch for that.

  4. Re:Bandwidth caps? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nah, make a point of getting an analog clock with no seconds hand; you have an instant way of double-checking that the link is actually active, and a handy timeout prevention device. One frame per minute isn't going to kill your bandwidth.

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  5. iRobot has it too (but do not sell yet). by snikulin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    iRobot has a very nice device ConnectR.
    Apparently they do not sell it just yet. And yes, I would be careful buying it because my mom could be very... um... advisable?

  6. the best tool for fighting for privacy with by alizard · · Score: 2, Interesting

    a 24/7 video link is your hat. Take it . . . and drop it over the camera when you're doing anything you don't want the viewer to see.

    --
    Tech Public Policy stuff
  7. WiFi or Ethernet Webcams... by TavisJohn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are self contained WiFi and Ethernet webcams (Most have a mini web server built in). That, a router and a Dynamic IP Name Service ( http://www.dyndns.org/ ) will finish off the bill. Many routers have built in support for some Dynamic IP Name Services. You set the router to forward Port 80 (Or whatever port the webcam ues) to the IP address of the webcam. Then you just point the computer at the URL and you are seeing still images or streaming video. Most Webcams even support a password system so only those who you want to have access will. No dedicated computer, software, or anything like that.

  8. iChat has AUTO ANSWER! by MrHatken · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just to second the suggestion for iChat and point out that iChat has a (command-line enabled) AUTO ANSWER facility. So when you ring your GrandParents they don't even need to click to answer.

    I don't find the iChat "Chat Request" panel to be that intuitive (for GrandParents). It just displays a pane with the request annoucement but no buttons. You need to click on the panel to make it expand to show the accept/reject buttons.

    Auto-Answer can also help if GrandParents aren't computer literate or have trouble seeing the small on-screen pointer.

    Of course, most people don't like the invasion of privacy that this allows but then if you are thinking of video-chatting 24x7 this should not really be a problem.

    Google for how to do it ...

    Cheers,
    Ashley.

  9. Re:Apple iChat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Another iChat vote. My family is spread across three countries and 13 hours of time zones. We are now all Mac users simply because iChat is the _only_ real option for video chat. It's the killer app.

    I'm a GNU/Linux user otherwise. Skype is shite for its performance and for its trojan horse qualities.