Over the Easter break it may be quite challenging to be away from family but a great alternative is making use of free video chat platforms to help you and your love ones stay connected.
There are a range of video chat platforms available but as many have found some are more tricky to use than others. So we’ve given you a quick how-to guide on how these can be used to group chat.
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- Start a one-to-one video call with a contact
- Tap the ‘Add participant’ icon on the screen
- In the next screen select your contact(s)
- You can make a group call with up to 32 people.
- For more information on how to make video calls on WhatsApp visit FAQ page on Group video calls.
Facebook Messenger
- You can see up to six people at a time but up to 50 people can join in on voice or camera
- Once more than six people are on the call, just the dominant speaker is shown to everyone on the call.
- From chats, create a group conversation or go to an existing one
- Then tap on the video icon on the upper right of the screen to enter the video chat
- Everyone in the group will be notified to ask them if they want to join
To get more support on how to use this option visit Facebook Messenger Group Chat Help Centre
Skype
How to group video chat on iPhone
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How to group video calls on Android devices
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- Once you have signed in, start a chat by tapping the name of the friends you want to have a group call with from the contacts panel
- Tap the camera icon to start the video call
- You can add more people to the call after it has started by tapping the ‘Add participant icon’
- You can have up to 100 people on the video call.
- For more advice on how to use Skype for group calls visit the Skype website.
FaceTime
- Tap Messages, then open or start a new Group FaceTime message with people you’d like to call
- Tap on the group name or contact at the top of the messages then choose Facetime from the menu. This will start a Facetime with everyone on the message
- To add someone swipe up from the handle at the bottom of the screen, tap add person and type in a name. Tap add the person to Facetime to invite them to join.
- You have to have iOS 12.1.4 or later or iPadOS to use this function
- You can Facetime with up to 32 people
- For more support on how to Group chat on Facetime, visit the Apple support page
Google Meet
On a computer
- Go to meet.google.com/calling
- Click Create group link
- You can name the group, and then click Add people to select contacts.
On an Android device
- Open the Google Meet app
- Tap New, then Create group
- Select contacts, then tap Done.
- You can video chat with up to 10 people.
- For more support on how to use Google Meet for group chat, visit Google Meet Help page
Zoom
Once you have signed up for free you can follow these steps to set up a video call with friends and family.
- To host a meeting login to the site or the app and then click ‘New meeting and Start With Video
- Then you can share the link to invite people to join the call. They just need to click on the link to join the call but they also need to have Zoom installed on their phone or web browser.
See Zoom Safety tips on video calling
Top safety tips for video calling
If your teen is using video calling here are some simple tips to help them stay safe.
- Advise them only to video chat with people that they really know – some friends of friends may still be strangers. It is also important not to accept video chat requests from people they don’t know.
- Encourage them to leave personal details out of video chats to make sure they stay in control of what can be made public as everything can be recorded and shared.
- Set a strong password to avoid their account being hacked.
- Make sure they are aware of how to report or block anyone who may be saying or doing something inappropriate.
- Walk through the privacy settings on the platform to make sure these are set to the right level.
- Encourage them to video chat in a high-traffic area of the house and be dressed appropriately.
- Even with people they are familiar with, it’s important to set some boundaries on where and when they can chat as children can be too trusting if they are talking to an adult or someone they consider as a close friend.
