| What is Tiscali WebCam? |
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Tiscali WebCam is a suite of useful and innovative video-applications for your webcam: you can send a video email to anyone you like, or a greeting card for any occasion along with your own video message, place a video call or call up a video conference with up to 6 people.
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| How does Tiscali WebCam work? |
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Use Tiscali Web directly from this website within your browser, and it will not require you to install any external software. To record and play videos it uses Macromedia Flash Player 6, which is pre-installed on most browsers and PCs. If you don't have Flash, download it now.
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| What are the system requirements? |
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To use this service, your PC must meet the following minimum system requirements:- Operating System:
- Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
- Browser:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or above
- Netscape 6.2 or above
- Macromedia Flash Player 6
- Dial-up (56 Kbps or above), ISDN, ADSL or LAN Internet connection
- Macromedia Flash 6 compatible WebCam
- Full duplex sound card with loudspeakers/headphones and microphone (optionally integrated with the WebCam)
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| Does Tiscali WebCam work with firewalls and proxies? |
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Yes, Tiscali WebCam services work both with PC and LAN firewalls.
Some PC firewalls, such as Zone Alarm or Norton Firewall, might require your explicit authorization to let the audio/video datastream through. You should allow this and, if the firewall has such an option, save this setting so that you won't need to do it every time.
We found out that some proxy servers, or more rarely some particularly restrictive firewalls, can create problems and service malfunction.
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| Do I have to register to user Tiscali WebCam? |
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If you are a Tiscali subscriber, you don't need to register. Simply log into the service through the home page using your Tiscali email and password.
If you are not a Tiscali user and you want to place Video Calls or have a Video Conference, register here. You will receive in your mailbox your Tiscali WebCam password.
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| What are the terms and conditions of using the WebCam service? |
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You can see the full service terms and conditions by clicking here.
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| Which WebCams are compatible? |
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Almost any WebCam can be used with this service. If you have problems, the Macromedia website has a list of supported WebCam. The page is periodically updated, but the list might still lack products which are indeed Flash 6 compatible. All Creative WebCams are proven and tested and you can buy them now at a discounted price for Tiscali users!
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| What version of Flash do I need? |
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Tiscali WebCam requires Macromedia Flash Player, version 6. If you have an earlier version, download the latest from the Macromedia website.
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| When I use the service, a "Protection Window" appears, asking to install something. What's happening? |
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As explained above, Tiscali WebCam requires Macromedia Flash 6.
If your browser detects that you don't have Flash, or that you have an older version, it will automatically prompt you to download the component: click on Yes and follow the installation instructions.
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| Every time I access the service, a small window appears, asking if the service can use my WebCam. What's going on? |
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When Tiscali WebCam needs access to the microphone and video feed from your WebCam, it requires your authorization to protect your privacy.
You can give your explicit authorization every time, or configure the system so that it will automatically grant access to this service only:- Click with the right mouse button inside the video window.
- Select Settings
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 - Select the box Remember.
- Click on Allow.
- Close.
For more information, please refer to the Macromedia website.
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| How does the Video Call work? |
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Video Call allows you to have an audio and video communication with any other Internet user.
From the Tiscali WebCam home page, log in with your email and password and you directly go to the Video Call page. The user you want to call has to be online and on the same Video Call page.
When you're in the page, you will see your own video feed in the left window. If you see a dialog asking to access your WebCam and need more information, read here.
Now you can type in the email address of the person to call and press the Call button. As soon as the person answers, his video stream will appear in the right window.
Beside the audio and video communication, you can also type in text messages in the Chat window: type your message in the input field at the bottom and press Enter or click on the Send button. You can also change the text colour with the pop up menu on the right: click on it and choose the colour you want.
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| What are the icons in the video windows? |
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When you move your pointer over your own video windows, two icons will appear at the bottom:
 | click on this icon to stop sending your video feed, and the icon will change. To start sending your video again, click once more. |  | just like the video icon, this icon allows you to stop sending your audio feed. The icon will change and click it again to resume sending your audio. |
In your party's video window, there will be three icons, two at the bottom and one in the title bar:
 | this icon freezes the incoming video, which will resume by clicking the icon again. |  | like before, with this icon you can stop receiving the audio. Click on it to resume the audio. |  | click on this icon to close your video call. |
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| How do I hang up a video Call? |
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Move your pointer over your party's video window and click on the icon in the upper right corner () to close your conversation.
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| I have received a Video Call but I can't see the caller! |
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If the window shows the "Video Off" message, it simply means that the person you're connecting to does not have a WebCam connected to their PC!
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| How does the Video Conference work? |
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The service allows you to have a videoconference with up to 6 people, where each participant sees and hears everybody else. Beside the audio video communication, a chat window is also available for text messages.
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| I want to set up a video conference. What shall I do? |
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Very simple: send an email to all the conference participants, including the link to your own room, and setting a date a time for the meeting.
The link to your room is http://webcam.tiscali.co.uk?room=user@domain (where user@domain is obviously your own email address, anyway when you enter your room you will see this link in the Help window.)
Now log into the service home page with your email and password, and click on Video Conference. As your guests arrive, you will see their request to access the conference:
Click on Yes to let them in.
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| I want to force a conference guest out, how do I do that? |
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This is a "privilege" only the room owner has: to let him out, click on the icon of the participant's window.
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| How do I quit a video conference? |
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In the Help window there is a link to close the videoconference (if you are the room owner), or to quit it (if you are a guest).
If you are the owner, by closing the room you will by all means close the video conference, forcing all guests out.
If on the other hand you are a guest, and you quit, the videoconference will continue for everybody else, and their Chat window will display the message that you have left.
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| I received an invitation to a video conference. Now what? |
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In the invitation you will find a link like http://webcam.tiscali.it?room=xxx where xxx is the email address of the person setting up the meeting, and it identifies the owner of the room where the videoconference will take place (read above.)
To join the conference, go to the URL and identify yourself. Your request to join will be displayed on the room owner's screen which will then be able to grant you access.
Once you're in, to quit the videoconference click on the Quit the conference link in the Help window. Your video will disappear from the other participants' screens and the Chat window will display a message that you left the room.
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| What are those icons on the video windows? |
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These icons allow you to control the "in" and "out" audio/video feeds, and are the same ones used in the Video Call. Read their description.
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| What's Video Email, and how does it work? |
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Video Email is a simple system to record video messages with your WebCam, and send them to anyone you like.
Type your data, your recipients data and your message in the Video Email page. On the right there's a your webcam video: start recording with the  button, and when you're done, press premi  . To review your recording, use the  button. You can have a preview of your message as it will appear to the recipient with the Preview button; from the preview page, go back to the form with the Back button. When you're satisfied, Send it.
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| When I send a Video Email, what does the recipient receive? |
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An HTML email will be delivered to the recipient's mailbox, containing a link to display your video message directly from the Tiscali WebCam site.
In other words, the email is just a notification and will not contain your video in an attachment. This is so you can record long messages without clogging your friends' mailboxes.
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| Is there a maximum length for my video recording? |
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The maximum length of your video is 10 minutes.
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| Can I send the same message to more than one recipient? |
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Sure! In the recipients' emails field, you can type in as many email addresses as you want, separated by a blank space, a comma, or a semi-colon. Please note that the notification email will contain the full list of the recipients' addresses.
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| What are Video Greetings, and how does the service work? |
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A Video Greeting is like a Video Email, with the added feature of including one of the many available greeting cards and animations.
First of all, choose the greeting card you want to send: there are cards for all occasions and tastes, divided into categories on the Video Cards page. Some are just pictures, some are animated GIFs, other are Flash animations. Choose the greeting card you like by clicking on it, then proceed with the Video Email (see above.)
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| When I send a Video Greeting, what does the recipient receive? |
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Just like the Video Email, the recipient will have a notification email, linking your message on the Tiscali WebCam site. Before your text and video message, the choosen card will be displayed.
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| The WebCam site cannot find my video greeting or email, what's going on? |
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If you clicked on the address of the greeting card or video email and you're reading this FAQ, it means that the system has not found your card or video message. Make sure you copied the full address, as it appears in the notification email.
Some email clients won't allow you to click on the link; in this case manually copy the whole address into your browser Address field.
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