ooVoo – Video chat is all but new. Google does it, so does Skype; MSN offers it as part of their Messenger service, and online video conferencing is also provided by Rounds. And this is just a quick list. ooVoo tries to be different, and in fact, based on a recent study commissioned by ooVoo, 8 out of 10 Skype users apparently prefer ooVoo over the former.

Let’s see how it measures up to or, if it really exceeds Skype as ooVoo claims. In terms of features, ooVoo offers video chat, video conferencing, phone calls and desktop sharing (that’s right). Right off the bat, desktop sharing is a crucial business tool I can definitely see coming into high use. Secondly, the ooVoo video chat is possible with friends and colleagues who don’t have ooVoo installed. You simply provide them with a certain link you receive from ooVoo after you sign up, and your friends’ browser will use that link to get in visual touch.

So, final verdict? ooVoo is easy to use, the sound and visual quality is terrific (which reminds me of those countless times when Skype lacked sound and video quality), and the video chat feature is free. I’m going to switch from Skype and give ooVoo a real test drive. Seems worth it!

The complete list of all ooVoo’s features is right there on their homepage. You should also check out their business solutions overview. See the screen shot below of my ooVoo profile, offering the video chat link for friends ooVoo-less. That’s ingenious!