Rosie's Ramblings

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      VoIP and Web Cams Are Here
      One of the most difficult elements of divorce concerns how much time?and when?the newly designated noncustodial parent gets to see the children. Add the complexities of court-ordered supervised visits, or visits with the one parent moving to the East Coast, and ... it makes real estate law look pretty good, huh?
      I'm not about to resolve all settlement conferences for you (or soothe the inflamed outrage coming from real estate lawyers up and down the state), but here's something that certainly will ease some of the sting of parent-child separation: Low-cost Web video and voice over IP (VoIP or "voyp"). Fathers can help their kids with nightly homework. Free. Mothers can vet their kids' university applications or essays. Free. The best part? This stuff is so easy now that your clients don't have to know anything about computers, so long as they don't touch the equipment.
      I'm suggesting two scenarios here. One is for people who have touched a computer more than twice. Those people can set up everything themselves?it's that easy. The other scenario is for people who haven't touched a computer. For those people, social workers or their IT people will do the setup in the supervisor's office. Others can set it up at home or in the office. Or both. And, don't forget, both sides need the same general setup.
      All of this begins with an account with Skype.com for each participant. Skype is just one of many consumer-level VoIP providers, but it seems to have won the brand-name recognition contest and, additionally, is mentioned on the packaging of every Web cam I've seen in the past few months. Skype permits you to use your computer to talk for free with anyone anywhere who also has a Skype account. Remember, for the most basic services, Skype accounts are free. Of course, if you want to call someone's land line, you have to pay. But they don't even ask you for a credit card when you open the account. Convenient for clients who don't have credit cards.
      The first page of Skype offers a big green cartoonist's balloon pointing to a small download button. Click on that and follow the instructions. Skype will set up your new account, providing you with a Skype name, such as "sandra.rosenzweig," which is not, by the way, my handle. (And I refuse to be "sandra.rosenzweig1" because, in computer talk, 1 means 2 and nothing means 1.)
      Skype wasn't created to solve your clients' visitation problems. Its business plan includes a lot more features, many of which cost money. Check out its fees for calling land lines or cell phones, replacing your land-line phone number with a Skype number, or setting up voice mail. Or just stick to business and get on with your videoconferencing.
      Skype phone calls are only half the package. The parties have to be able to see each other. This is where the Web cam comes in. Usually these are small items, about the size of a Satsuma plum, and they either hang from your monitor or sit on a stand on your desk. In my experience, the cheaper the camera, the worse the picture. Your audience may complain that you're blurry, or dark, or washed out?or ask you to stop zooming in and out. Still, these $29 to $49 cams are good starter units. Once you know this sort of visitation works for you or your clients, then you can move up to the $79 or $129 range cams. Kind of puts a dent in "free" ...
      Right now, I'm using a Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP ($129). It looks like R2-D2's eye on its robot stick. (The stick is optional, but putting the naked eye down on the desk means shooting up at my double chins-not my best angle.) Once it's hooked up, just sit down in front of it and watch it configure itself. Picture too dark? Click Tools on the floating toolbar and adjust the color intensity, brightness, contrast, and white balance (which I have set to auto). Select a permanent zoom-in level?great for reading your kids' math homework. (I tell you, you can easily read handwriting or a printed page.) In Tools, turn on face tracking for one or for two people and watch that motorized eye follow you as you lean to the left, lean to the right, pass that football and ...
      In the base that holds the stick that holds the motorized panning eye is a microphone, and a pretty good one at that. For convenience during visitation videoconferences, I'd use the built-in mike and the computer's external speakers. For the best sound but a little less freedom of movement, use a headset with a built-in mike, the sort that's at least a couple of steps above convenience-store quality. (Headset reviews come later this year.) For now, I've gotta go. My Web cam has moved up to focus on my ceiling, as if it needs a little rest. Sweet dreams. Talk to you soon.
     

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