Video Chat Help & FAQ

Table of Contents

Information For Web Baby Shower Hosts

What Is Video Chat?

Video Chat extends web-based live chat with the use of web cameras (webcams) so that you can communicate with other guests in your chat room in real time. If you are interested in a live webcam broadcast, a video chat room is one way to do it.

Is Video Chat Available At Web Baby Shower?

2009-10-01: Yes, video chat is currently available on a by-request, beta testing trial basis. If you would like to use the video chat room instead of the default text-only chat room, please use the Web Baby Shower contact form to submit your request. If your Web Baby Shower is already in progress, you must submit your request for video chat at least one week in advance of any scheduled parties you wish to use it for. If you have not yet signed up for a Web Baby Shower, please include your request during the check out process. There is no additional fee for requesting or using video chat with your Web Baby Shower. However, please note that at this time, video chat is being offered on a trial, beta-testing basis and that Web Baby Shower cannot possibly accomodate rush requests and we also cannot provide any support for purchasing a web camera or installing or operating a web camera. You (or the expecting/adopting parents or other special guest) must already own a web cam and know how to use it.

Video Chat Terms of Service

Video Chat is offered "AS IS" with no warranty or suitability for any purpose. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS WEB BABY SHOWER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF YOUR BABY SHOWER EVENT OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF EVENT. It is up to you to be prepared for anything to happen and have a back up plan and backup date & time. Because Video Chat is just one feature of the total Web Baby Shower service, absolutely NO REFUNDS are given if there are any malfunctions during your event. Use at your own risk.

For complete Terms of Service, please see Web Baby Shower Terms of Service.

Please Schedule A "Technical Rain Date" With Your Guests

Please make a "technical rain date" with your guests. Due to circumstances that are sometimes beyond Web Baby Shower's control we strongly encourage each chat host to schedule a primary chat date & time and also an alternate date & time in the event of technical or other difficulties. The vast majority of Web Baby Shower chats run smoothly, however, as with most things related to computers, when things do go wrong it is helpful to have another date & time when everyone can try again.

Please Familiarize Yourself With The Video Chat Room

Since the video chat room is available all the time to Web Baby Shower customers, please feel free to log in at any time and check it out. Once you have requested a video chat room and it has been set up for you, you can familiarize yourself with logging in, adding a webcam, viewing other participants' webcams, entering text messages, sharing photos, and so forth before the date/time of any planned chats.

Maximum Number Of Users

The number of users in the video chat room is nearly unlimited and up to 10 of your guests can broadcast their webcams at one time. The 10 webcam maximum is to ensure that enough bandwidth is available to all Web Baby Shower customers using the video chat room. Please plan your video chat accordingly (I'm sure you'll want to focus on the expecting/adopting parents anyway!!).

Using The Web Baby Shower Video Chat Room

Chatroom Browser Compatibility

Accessing Your Web Baby Shower Video Chat Room

Once your Web Baby Shower is set up and you have requested Video Chat, you can access the video chat room by clicking the "Live Chat" link in your Web Baby Shower navigation bar. The Video Chat room will open in a new window so that you can easily return to your Web Baby Shower when you are done chatting. Follow the instructions on the Video Chat room regarding any password protection (hosts' discretion) and use the :Open Video Chat Window" link to open the video chat room in a new window. Please note that you must allow pop-ups from webbabyshower.com in order to access the video chat room.

Do Participants Have To Register For Video Chat Or Have An Account?

No, each Web Baby Shower host who requests video chat will be given their own private video chat room to use whenever they wish. All you have to do is share the log in instructions with your guests and you can have a private video chat with them whenever you wish for the duration of your Web Baby Shower. Each guest must choose a unique username (or nickname) to use in the chat room, but this is pretty open-ended and does not require an account or registration.

Connecting A Web Camera

Now we're getting to the good stuff! To use your web camera in the Web Baby Shower Video Chat Room:

1. You must already own a webcam, have it installed on your computer and know how to use it! Web Baby Shower cannot help you with this, you must select and install a webcam on your own.
2. Make sure that you have Adobe Flash Player installed in your web browser ( more info )
3. Log into the Web Baby Shower Video Chat Room (see above)
4. Make sure that your webcam is connected to your computer and is turned on
5. Click the "click to show webcam" image in the upper righthand column
6. If a dialog box asking for your webcam and microphone settings appears, click "close" or "continue" to continue
7. If a dialog box asks you to allow access to your webcam and microphone, make sure you click "Allow"!
8. The Web Baby Shower Video Chat room will connect to your webcam and you will be able to see your webcam view in the upper righthand column.
9. Please note that only 10 webcams are allowed per room at any one time to help ensure that everyone gets enough bandwidth.
10. If it does not work, please make sure that your webcam is connected to your computer and is turned on, that you have installed Adobe Flash Player, that you have allowed cookies from webbabyshower.com and that your room has not reached the maximum of 10 webcams running at once. If it still does not work, please see your webcam documentation for troubleshooting information.

Viewing A Web Camera

When another guest in your chat room is displaying a webcam you will see a little webcam symbol by their user name in the righthand column. To view their webcam, simply click on their user name and then "view webcam". Their webcam view will appear in the row of webcam spaces below the main text message area. Please make sure that you have installed Adobe Flash Player in your web browser and that you have allowed cookies from webbabyshower.com in order to view webcam broadcasts. You can view up to 10 webcams at once.

Video Chat Room Additional Features

The Web Baby Shower Video Chat Room has lots of fun little features you can use to make your chat more lively including avatars, emoticons, different fonts, font colors, sounds, photos, roll dice. For more information on using these features, please click the Help button once you are in the video chat room.

Saving & Printing Your Chat

At any time during your chat, you can click the "Transcript" button to generate a printer-friendly version of your entire chat conversation that you can Save or Print using the save and print functions in your web browser (see your browser's Help section for more information).

Please remember to View, Save and/or Print your transcript BEFORE the end of the day of your chat or the transcript will be lost.

Please note that there must be messages posted in your chat room for that day in order for there to be a transcript.

Exiting Your Chat

When you are done with your chat party, simply click "Disconnect" and close your browser window. PLEASE make sure that you have saved or printed your transcript BEFORE you log out.

Video Chat Support

Please note that I am the sole owner and operator of Web Baby Shower and I am a human who needs to eat, sleep and have recreational weekends. I therefore CANNOT GUARANTEE that I will be available for support near the time of your chat. PLEASE LOG INTO THE VIDEO CHAT ROOM AND FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH ITS FEATURES WELL IN ADVANCE OF ANY SCHEDULED CHAT PARTIES YOU ARE ARRANGING. WEB BABY SHOWER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF YOUR EVENT AND ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS ARE GIVEN FOR ANY REASON. If you have any questions, please try to ask during normal business hours (M-F 10 AM - 6PM Pacific US). If you are experiencing a problem on the day of your chat, please try contacting me by both phone and email. Thank you for understanding.

Have fun with your chat and let me know if you have any questions.

Last updated October 1, 2009

Important Note: At this time this website is offered in English only. Any language translations of this website are unofficial and not authorized. This website is not responsible for errors, omissions or mistranslations caused by unauthorized translations. Thank you.