July 7, 2009

Pitch an Investor via TokBox

If you’ve got a business idea that needs a (financial) helping hand to get off the ground, this could be your chance to find one.

This Friday, 10th July, as part of TechCrunch CrunchUp and August Capital Meet Up, we will be offering entrepeneurs attending the event the opportunity to pitch their business idea to one of these three top-tier investors: Bryan Schreier of Sequioa Capital, Saar Gur from Charles River Ventures and Kevin Hartz from Youniversity Ventures.

So, if you’re coming to the event and you’re interested, swing by the TokBox booth and sign up for your 10 minutes in front of the investors. If you’ve not yet bought a ticket to the event, but would like to, just click here.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday and who knows, maybe you’ll get that injection of cash you need to get your business to really take off.

Micky
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Filed under General Hullabaloo, New Stuff

July 2, 2009

Tokbox Release Update: Changes to the Video Calling User Interface

As part of our quest to make TokBox the simplest video chat and video message service on the web, we recently let our designers loose on video chat to see what magic they could do and this week we released it for all the world to see.

We thought it might be helpful to hit the highlights here, but as always, seeing is believing, so the best way to see what’s new is to start a video chat. You can always call me!

Starting at the beginning (always a good place to start):

Inviting friends to join the call. You can always invite people from your friend list, just by clicking on their icon in your contact list. Or if you want to distribute the call, you can now put it on your MySpace page as well as Facebook, Twitter and sending it via email or instant message.
Watching stuff together. If you’re bored of what they’ve got to say and want to watch something together, you can always watch a YouTube video, look at a Picasa or Flickr photo album or SlideShare presentation. Now, you can also show someone that funny TokBox video message you received. Just click on the icon that looks like a TV (top of call window) to see the options.
More than just video chat. If you’re having a bad hair day and just want to text chat with someone who is in a video chat, you can click on the “x” and take part just via text chat. The best part is that we eliminated the “bing” noise associated with the text chat, so you won’t bug everyone.

If you’re looking for a detailed walk through of these changes, or of other things on TokBox, you can always refer back to this blog post for links to visual, step-by-step guides.

Questions? Please feel free to contact me.

-Damon

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Filed under New Stuff, TokBox Speaks, Video Calling, Video Chat, Video Conference, Video Conferencing, Video IM and Video Instant Messaging

Tags: facebook, flickr, myspace, picasa, slideshare, twitter, youtube

June 26, 2009

Having issues with the Tokbox Facebook Video Chat Plug-in?

Since we’ve recently had some intermittent issues with our Facebook Video Chat Plugin – possibly due to a UI change by Facebook – I did want to highlight that you can still make a video call or video chat with your Facebook friends using Tokbox. Even if you aren’t using Mozilla Firefox, or if you’re currently having problems with the chat plug-in, you can still invite friends to a video chat using Tokbox without using the plugin (these directions means you can use Internet Explorer or Safari as well).

Here’s how:

Go to “Create a video chat” on the left sidebar (logged in at Tokbox.com).
Go to “Invite Friends”.
A screen with various options will open up.
Choose the Facebook option.
Click on “Share Link” to post the call url to your profile or to send the call url to a specific friend. Your Facebook friends would simply need to click on the link to join the call (your friends don’t need to have a Tokbox account).

Note: You can also simply grab the url if you want to send it to someone via Facebook chat as an additional option. The party (parties) would simply need to click on the link to join your video chat.

Also see: Tokbox Facebook Fan Page and Sending Video Mail Messages on Facebook.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

-Damon

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Filed under Video Calling, Video Chat, Video IM and Video Instant Messaging, Video Mail, Video Message, Video Messaging

Tags: facebook, firefox, plug-in, plugin

June 23, 2009

AIM Messages Set Free

A group of our AIM users may have noticed that their messages weren’t going through over the last couple of days. Well fear not, we’ve noticed, and we’ve fixed the problem, and all AOL Instant Messenger accounts should be working now.

While you’re at it, check out the new functionality that we’ve added in the contact list including better adding and removing of accounts and buddies as well as changing the nickname of your AIM and GTalk friends.

–
Melih Onvural
http://www.tokbox.com/melih
TokBox Engineer

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Filed under TokBox Speaks

June 19, 2009

Tokbox UI Changes: How to…

Tokbox made many changes to our UI a few weeks ago for doing things like placing video calls, so I thought I would do a very quick blog post on “How to…” do things like place a video call. Links to visuals are included for many of our key features below.

How to create a video conference or multi-party video chat

How to create and send a video mail message

How to start a video call or chat

June 15, 2009

Detecting your webcam on Tokbox

Since webcam and microphone issues are one of the leading drivers of contacts to Tokbox, I thought it would be helpful to revisit this issue again with a blog post.

Please do the following if you have problems detecting your webcam:

1. Make sure you’re working with a recent version of Adobe Flash.

2. After updating your version of Flash, please login and go to the cam/mic settings link you will find under “My Tokbox”. Clicking on that link will open a window for you to detect your camera, while also giving you the option to set your microphone settings.

3. If you’re having issues during a call with cam or mic issues, or if the other parties in the call are having issues with their camera and microphone not working properly, the cam and mic settings can be checked while in a call.

Note: Low or no sound is most likely attributed to not having the proper output levels selected for audio devices in your computer’s control panel (speakers, headsets, external speakers). We would also recommend using headsets for the best audio quality possible.

What do I do if the above steps don’t work?

The most common issue would be that the drivers aren’t updated on the webcam. Please visit finding the driver updates for your web camera, then come back to the site after updating the drivers and follow the steps outlined above again. A relatively common problem, for example, is that many Logitech and Microsoft Lifecam webcam models won’t work properly with the site if the drivers aren’t updated first.

I can’t see my friend’s webcam in a call. What should I do?

Your friend(s) would need to take the same steps mentioned above. If you’re already in a call, have them go to the “Settings” option you will see in the call window.

What should I do if I am still having issues detecting my webcam?

If problems continue after taking all of the steps mentioned above, please contact us with the following via the feedback form on the Tokbox home page:

1. The make and model of the webcam (Example: Creative Labs webcam, model #xxxxx)

2. If you receive any error messages when trying to detect the camera.

Also see:

Increasing microphone volume

-Damon

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Damon Billian

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Filed under New to Tokbox, TokBox Speaks, Webcams and Microphones

Tags: cam, lifecam, logitech, problems, web, webcam

June 5, 2009

New Stuff: Enhancements to the Tokbox user interface for managing your account and contact list

We know how much you love to chat with your friends over IM and over the last few months I’ve been hearing from lots of you about what you’d like to see changed in our IM client. I’m pleased to say that the first phase of these changes are live for you all to enjoy.

So, just in case you haven’t discovered them all yet, here’s a run down:

*Adding friends from your IM buddy lists and email address book just got easier. Simply click on “Add” at the bottom of your TokBox contact list and start adding whole address books or individual friends

*Once you’ve added your friends you can edit how their names appear in your contact list. You no longer have to remember who the friend with the screen name Superstar1 is, just edit away by clicking on “Edit” at the bottom of the TokBox Contact list and then the pencil beside the relevant name

* Now you’ve got this many friends to IM with, the likelihood is that you are chatting with more than one at a time. Now, you can chat with all those people within one tabbed window. Simply click between friends. You’ll know you’ve got a new message thanks to the red alert and also the funky new sounds we’ve added

* And remember, if one of those friends becomes too much to deal with, you can simply remove them by clicking on “Edit” again and then the minus sign next to their name

Those with keen eyes, might also spot the changes we made to the left hand side bar to try and simplify the ways in which you can contact your friends and receive your messages.

To make a video call or send a video message, click on “Create a video” and select what you want to do and to check your messages click on “Messages” and you’ll find everything from video messages to missed call notifications.

Finally, to manage everything from your profile page to your privacy settings, click on “My TokBox” and you’ll find everything you need.

I hope you like the changes, but if you have questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me directly.

-Damon

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Damon Billian

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Filed under New Stuff, TokBox Speaks, Video Calling, Video Chat, Video IM and Video Instant Messaging, Video Mail, Video Message, Video Messaging

May 28, 2009

TokBox wins Communication Arts Interactive Design award!

The ‘Box got a pretty big honor this month from the design community, as we were named as one of this year’s top interactive projects. We’re in pretty good company, sharing the honor with companies like Nike, Sprint, Sunday Night Football, Nokia, Samsung, The GRAMMY museum, and a host of beautifully designed projects you may not have heard of.

Communication Arts awards are quite prestigious in the design community, and I’m really proud of the entire team for the hard work they put in that has made our interface simple, elegant, and exciting enough that a publication like CA would recognize Tokbox for our design work. We didn’t expect it, but I’m not surprised we won with the amount of hard work we put in. Congrats to the whole team!

We’re working on some things right now that are going to blow away the work we did last year, so keep your eyes peeled! I can say with total confidence that what we do next will far exceed what we’ve done.

Follow our Tokbox designers on Twitter:

Chris Fox and Addison Kowalski

“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals. “

– David Ogilvy

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About Communication Arts:

Founded in 1959, Communication Arts is the premier source of inspiration for graphic designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, advertising agencies, interactive designers, illustrators and photographers—everyone involved in visual communication. Whether in print or online, CA’s editorials, feature articles and the annual competitions it sponsors provide new ideas and information, while promoting the highest professional standards for the field. Now in its 50th year, CA continues to showcase the current best—from industry veterans to tomorrow’s innovators—in design, advertising, illustration, photography and interactive media.

www.commarts.com is the online complement to Communication Arts magazine.

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Filed under General Hullabaloo, TokBox Speaks

Tags: award, awards, design

May 21, 2009

TokBox Story of the Week : Training teams for success

It was great to hear from Gina Turner-Guzman last week about how TokBox is helping her build her home fragrance and candle business, Gold Canyon. She tells me that a really important part of driving the business is training the sales representatives. Given they are spread out all over the country, she was increasingly finding that it wasn’t practical or even economical to get them together in person. That’s when she discovered TokBox.

Gina started to search high and low for video conferencing service and eventually came across TokBox. She says that TokBox gives her everything she needs and more. In fact, in her own words, “Not only do I get to train them, they get to chat and build their own comraderie, rapport and relationship. They feel like a part of the team even though they’re not there in person.”

Here’s to Gina and team’s continued success.

Micky

www.tokbox.com/Micky

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Filed under TokBox Stories, Video Communication, Video Conference, Video Conferencing, Web Conference, Web Conferencing

Tags: business, small, tools, training

May 18, 2009

Ten Reasons to use Tokbox for Video Mail

While most of us are used to email by now, did you know you can now enhance email by sending a video mail? Since many of you are probably new to the world of video mail, below you will find ten reasons to use Tokbox video mail.

1. No download is required to send a video mail. All of this magic can be done directly through your web browser.

2. The recipient(s) you decide to send your video mail to don’t need a Tokbox account to view your video message.

3. Tokbox video mails can be up to ten minutes in length. Many other services restrict the length of video mail messages to a few minutes or less, or they require that you pay additional fees to get longer video mail limits.

4. Like to record video messages for your web site or blog readers? Tokbox will allow you to embed a video mail you’ve recorded into a web site or blog quite easily.

5. You can tweet out a video mail message to your Twitter followers.

6. You can send a video mail message to your Facebook friends.

7. You can send a video mail to your email address book contacts easily.

8. Hate receiving long text emails that create a lot of back and forth? Send video mails to shorten the amount of time required to resolve an issue at work or at home.

9. You don’t need a downloaded client to view or send a video mail message.

10. Did we mention that Tokbox video mail is free?

Additional Video Mail FAQs

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-Damon

http://www.tokbox.com/damon

1 Comment

Filed under Video Communication, Video Mail, Video Message, Video Messaging

Tags: blogging, facebook, tools, tweet, twitter, video-email

July 7, 2009

Pitch an Investor via TokBox

July 2, 2009

Tokbox Release Update: Changes to the Video Calling User Interface

June 26, 2009

Having issues with the Tokbox Facebook Video Chat Plug-in?

June 23, 2009

AIM Messages Set Free

June 19, 2009

Tokbox UI Changes: How to…

June 15, 2009

Detecting your webcam on Tokbox

June 5, 2009

New Stuff: Enhancements to the Tokbox user interface for managing your account and contact list

May 28, 2009

TokBox wins Communication Arts Interactive Design award!

May 21, 2009

TokBox Story of the Week : Training teams for success

May 18, 2009

Ten Reasons to use Tokbox for Video Mail

About TokBox

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