Use ooVoo's Gifts Free Six-Way Video Chat this Holiday Season

By Hans Lewis, TMCnet Contributor

ooVoo (News - Alert) has revealed that its six-way video chat service will be free for everyone during the holidays. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, 2011, ooVoo is encouraging people to visit ooVoo.com to take advantage of this holiday offer. 

"With free six-way video chat, families can spend quality time together even when they can't connect in person," said Philippe Schwartz (News - Alert), CEO of ooVoo. "ooVoo allows loved ones to share special holiday moments with video technology that's fun and easy to use on their desktop or laptop."

ooVoo will allow up to six users to participate on the same video call for as long as they want, at no cost. Current ooVoo users will get the free upgrade to six-way chat during the holiday promotion, a savings of up to $19.95 a month.

ooVoo's free six-way offer comes in response to a survey conducted by ooVoo this fall. The survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and over revealed that seven out of ten people say something is likely to prevent them from seeing their loved ones this holiday season. More than 60 percent of them say high travel costs would impede their holiday travel plans, while 41 percent cite work schedules.

For military families, video chat can bring loved ones together face-to-face over the Web, to carve a turkey together on Thanksgiving or count down to the New Year.   

"I'm deployed with the US Army in Kuwait and ooVoo is my primary means of communication with my family," said Reginald Hall, an information technology engineer supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. "Video chat is keeping military families connected around the world, and this holiday season I'm excited about seeing my family in multiple locations from my laptop." 

Survey respondents listed top activities they'd participate in while using video chat services like ooVoo:

• Swapping stories (70 percent)
• Opening presents together (59 percent)
• Counting down to the New Year together (48 percent)

In addition to live video conversations, ooVoo allows users to record and send holiday greetings to anyone with an e-mail account. 

(source: http://telepresence.tmcnet.com/topics/telepresence/articles/120653-use-oovoos-gifts-free-six-way-video-chat.htm)