Helping Military families to communicate
with each other when they're far apartAOL Instant Messenger (free version)
AOL Instant Messenger allows you to do the following:
Have live voice conversations with one other person at a time.
Send/receive files (like digital pictures and documents).
Send/receive Instant text Messages.
The last time we checked, the Instant Messenger (IM) that comes with a paid subscription to America Online (AOL) does not have the "talk" feature that allows live voice conversations through the internet. You have to download this free version of IM to get it. Based on our past experiences with it, the quality of the audio isn't as good with this software as it it with some of the others. Still, it is adequate and was fairly easy to configure and use. You don't have to have a paid subscription to AOL to use it. It is available to anyone who wants to download it for free at the following link. Like all the other software that allows real time voice and or video, it works well with both high speed and dial-up modem connections.
Sample screen that shows what option to click on to use the "Talk" feature:
In order to use it, make sure the Talk feature is activated.
- Click on "My AIM"
- Click on "Edit Options"
- Click on "Edit Preferences"
- Click on "Talk" (in the lower left corner)
- Then select the options that appear on the screen below:
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