Use Yahoo Messenger for a Video or Audio Conference

About These Instructions: These instructions are intended primarily for those who are
new to instant messaging. If you already use Yahoo Messenger and want to add voice
and/or video to your instant messages and group conferences (chats), please skip to Part
Five: One-to-One Messaging with Text, Audio, and Video (page 17) or Part Six: Group
Conferencing with Text, Audio, and Video on page 27.
Contents of this tutorial
Part One: Download and install Yahoo Messenger
Part Two: Create a Yahoo Messenger Account
Part Three: Login and Configure Yahoo Messenger
Part Four: Create Your Contact List
Part Five: One-to-One Messaging with Simple Text, Audio, and Video
Part Six: Group Conferencing with Text, Audio, and Video

page 1
page 4
page 7
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page 17
page 27

Part One: Download and install Yahoo Messenger

1- Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com
2- Click the Download button. The download/install process should begin
automatically.

3- When the installation screen appears (as shown below), follow the instructions
provided during each step of the installation.

The installation screen says "Step 1 of 6". There are actually only 5 steps. There
does not appear to be a "Step 4" (see screen shots below).

Part Two: Create a Yahoo Messenger Account

If you previously downloaded Yahoo but: 1) did not create an account, 2) cannot
remember your account name, or 3) want to create a second account, follow the
instructions below.
1. When you have completed the installation process, you should see a confirmation
message in your browser window. Click "Sign up now" under "Get a Yahoo ID.

If you closed the browser window that displayed the "Congratulations! You have
successfully installed Yahoo Messenger", then you can go to
http://messenger.yahoo.com and click the "Sign Up" link next to "New User" at the
top of the page.

2. Complete the Yahoo Account form. A sample form is shown below.

While it's not required include an an alternate email address on the Sign Up form, it
is best to include one because if you lose/forget your Yahoo login name/password,
Yahoo will send you an email with the login name/password to the Yahoo email
address that was created when you set up your messenger account. However, since
the login and password for your Yahoo email account is the same as the login for
your Yahoo Messenger account, you will not be able to retrieve the email. In this
case you will be forced to create a new Yahoo account.

4- Write down the User ID and any other pertinent information from the
confirmation screen. Keep this in a safe place as you will need the login name and
password each time you use Yahoo messenger/Yahoo email.

Part Three: Login and Configure Yahoo Messenger

1- Locate the Yahoo Messenger icon on your desktop and double-click to start.
2- In the sign-in box, enter your Yahoo ID and password. IMPORTANT: Do not
select "Remember my ID & Password", or "Automatically sign-in" unless you
are using your own personal computer. If you select "Sign-in as invisible", you
will be able to see who's online (those people who are on your contact list who
are currently logged into the service) but they will not be able to see that you are
online. You can easily switch between "invisible" and "available" once you are
logged into the service.

3- The very first time you log into Yahoo Messenger you will need to a few
preferences. Select Messenger-->Preferences.
4-

Unless you are a proficient user of instant messaging programs, we recommend that you
set the preferences according to the images below (you will not have to change
preferences for all categories).
Once you are more familiar with Instant Messaging and your IM program, you may
later wish to add any functionality or features that are "de-selected" in the screen
images shown below. You can change your personal preferences (settings) at any
time, simply by selecting "Preferences" from the Messenger Menu. For more
information on Yahoo Messenger Features (activated via "Preferences") see:

Part Four: Create Your Contact List

Before you can use Yahoo Messenger to communicate with others, you will need to
create a contact list. In order to do this, you must know their Yahoo username. For
example, the person you want to communicate with has a Yahoo user name
umucdemo.

To add this user to your contact list, you need to select the add icon
on the Messenger tab.

located

2- Enter the Yahoo ID (username) of the person you wish to add to your contact list.
If you think you will have a hard time remembering who the username belongs to,
enter the person's first and/or last name. This is the name that will be displayed on
your contact list. Click on Next.

3- You can categorize usernames on your contact list. Simply type the name of the group
into which you want to categorize the username (i.e., work, school, family, friends, etc.).
Yahoo messenger will send an instant message to that person, who can then accept or
deny your request to include his/her name on your contact list. If that person is off-line,
the "accept/deny" message will be presented to him/her the next time he/she logs in to
Yahoo Messenger.

The person whose username you are attempting to add to your contact list will receive a
Yahoo Message that resembles the one shown below. Likewise, when someone attempts

to add your Yahoo username to his/her contact list, you will receive the same type of
message.

5- The "add to messenger list" status window appears. Yahoo Messenger includes
an address book feature, in which you can add contact details for each name on
your list. To add more details about a particular contact, click the "Add More
Details" button.

Because of potential privacy concerns associated with the online storage of your Yahoo
Messenger Address Book, we recommend that you RESTRICT the information you
include on the contact details form to only that which is absolutely necessary for instant
messaging this person from contact list. Once you have filled in any info you want to
include, select the Save & Close button to exit the contact details form.

6- Repeat this process for any Yahoo usernames you wish to add to your contact list.
If you chose to enter in additional information as outlined in step 4, you will need
to repeat Steps 1-4 to enter additional contacts. Other wise you can select Next to
add additional contacts or select Finish when you are done adding contacts.
Remember, you can only use Yahoo Messenger to communicate with those
people whose usernames appear on your contact list.

7- Check your contact list in Yahoo Messenger. As shown in the screen image
below, Yahoo Trainer has been added to the contact list. In this case, Yahoo
Trainer's username is actually umucdemo. Note the following:

A yellow smiley face next to the display name indicates that the person is
online.
A gray face means that the person is either off-line or "invisible".

8- To change your own status (how others see you), use the drop down status
selector at the top of Yahoo Messenger (see image below). You may select from
seven existing status messages or click "New Status Message" to create your
own. In the second screen image shown below, we see that Yahoo Trainer has
changed her status to "Be Right Back".

Part Five: One-to-One Messaging with Simple Text,

Audio, and Video
At the top of the Yahoo Messenger screen, there are three communication icons
(IM,Text, and Chat).

Use the IM button to open a blank Instant Message window. You can select
the contact name from the drop down box at the top of the instant message window.
Shortcut: Double-click the display name of the person on your contact list to whom
you wish to send a message. This will open an IM message window.

Do not use the text icon unless you want to send an instant message to
someone's cell phone (not advised unless the recipient has given you explicit
permission to send text messages to his/her cell phone).

Do not use the chat icon unless you want to enter a public chat room (not
advised).
Text
By selecting the IM icon, a blank Instant Message window will open. You will then
need to select from the "To" drop-down menu, the person you would like to IM.

There are two text boxes on the instant message screen. The top box contains the
transcript of all text sent by you and your IM contact.
Use the lower box to enter the text you want to send. If the person with whom you
are communicating is typing a response, it will say so in the lower left corner of the
message window. If the person is typing a message, you should wait until you see
his/her response before sending additional text

Voice
Before using Voice as part of a one-to-one instant message (chat session with one other
person), consider the following:

Although you can listen via your computer's speakers, use a headset mic
if you are going to talk.
If the other person does not have a headset mic, he/she can still hear you
via his/her speakers and respond with text.
The speed of each participant's Internet connection and the quality of
his/her headset mic will affect the overall audio quality. Quality ranges
from crackling ham radio to high-end speaker phone. Generally, the fewer
people participating, the greater the overall quality will be (simply because
you are reducing the potential number of quality detractors, such as slow
or spotty Internet connections, bad microphones, etc.).
The audio portion of your chat does not appear in the text window (you
cannot see it, you can only hear it). Keep this in mind if there are any
ADA compliance concerns (those concerns will be based on who is
participating in the chat and whether the chat it is mandatory or optional).
Currently, there is no way to save a transcript of the audio portion of your
chat. Only the text portion can be saved.

To speak with the person with whom you are text messaging, click the Voice icon.
The person will receive an "accept/deny" message in his/her instant message window.
If the person does not have a headset mic connected to the computer, he/she will
probably deny the request and then explain why via the text window. If the person
accepts your request, you will receive this information in the transcript portion of
your instant message window, as shown below.

When you begin using audio as part of your instant message, a "Talk" indicator will
appear on your instant message window, as shown below.

If you do not select "Hands Free", then you will have to push the green
Talk button every time you want to say something. "Hands Free" mode
works best, unless there are other people in the room with you or there is
significant background noise, which you do not wish to "play/transmit"
into the message.
If you have selected "Hands Free" mode and you need to speak privately
to someone standing next to you, select mute. Otherwise, the person with
whom you are instant messaging will hear everything you say.
If your telephone rings while you are engaged in a Hands-Free voice chat
on Yahoo Messenger, you should also select Mute. Be sure to de-select
Mute when you are ready to begin talking again via Yahoo Messenger.

Video
If you and the person with whom you are chatting both have high speed Internet
connections, one or both of you you can add video to your chat.
Starting your own Webcam:
Assuming that you have already connected a Webcam to your computer, there are three
ways to start your own Webcam:
Option 1: Before you open an instant message with someone on your contact list,
click the Messenger menu on your contact list and select "Start My Webcam".

A "View My Webcam" link (see image below) will appear next to your name in the
IM contact list of anyone who has added your username to his/her list of contacts.

Option 2: If you have an open IM window (with someone on your contact list), select
the Webcam icon located on the IM window toolbar.

Option 3: In the IM window, select the Contact menu located on the IM window and
select the "Invite to View My Webcam".

If you select either Option 2 or 3 above, the person with whom you are chatting will
see an invitation to view your Webcam in the transcript window of the IM window.
He/she may accept or decline the invitation.

If he/she accepts the invitation, a small window containing your Webcam video (see
sample image below) will appear on his/her screen.

Regardless of the method you use to activate your Webcam, a warning window will
appear containing the terms and conditions of Yahoo Messenger Webcam service.
Click OK to continue.

You may be prompted to select your connection speed.

Viewing someone else's Webcam: Assuming that someone on your contact list or the
person with whom you are chatting has started his/her Webcam, there are two ways to
view his/her Webcam image:
Option 1: If you are not engaged in an active chat session yet, click the "View My
Webcam" link located to the right of the contact's ID/name on your Messenger
contact list.

Option 2: If you are already engaged in an active chat session, click the Contact menu
in the IM window, select Contact Options and View Webcam.

Depending on the other person's IM preferences (settings), he/she may have to grant
permission for you to view his/her Webcam before the Webcam image appears, as
shown below.

If the person does not have a Webcam installed, or the Webcam is not turned on, you
may see the following error message:

You can adjust the display properties of the video image from the Webcam menu located
inside the Webcam window (see screen shot below):

Select "always on top" to force the Webcam window to remain on top of

your open IM (chat) window. Otherwise, you will not be able to watch the
video while you are instant messaging the person in the video.
Select Small if the Webcam image is too large, relative to the size of the
IM (chat) window.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Only the text portion of your instant message/chat

session can be saved. To save the text transcript, select "Save As..." from the
Conversation menu located in the upper left corner of the IM box. You must click
"Save As...." before you close the chat window. Once the chat window is closed, you
will not be able to save or retrieve the text of your chat.

Part Six: Group Conferencing with Text, Audio, and Video

or maximum participation, schedule your Group Conference/Chat times well in advance
via email. Prior to the scheduled time, planned participants should exchange their Yahoo
usernames as they will need to the usernames of the other participants to their own
contact lists in Yahoo Messenger.
It is also helpful to determine in advance who will be the one to initiate the
conference at the scheduled time. The person who initiates the conference invites the
other participants to join. This will ensure that everyone is "invited into" the same
group conference (chat) window.
Text
1. On the Yahoo Messenger window, click on the group name (i.e., work) containing the
usernames of those with whom you wish to have a group chat. Click the IM icon to open
a blank message form.

2. On the blank instant message form, click the conference icon.

3. On the Invite Contacts to Conference window you will see a "messenger list" to the
left and an "invitation list" to the right. Although you may have many names on your
contact list, the "messenger list" in the chat window only displays those people who are
currently online and available for a conference. If a desired participant has his/her
individual IM status set to anything other than "available", his/her username may not be
displayed on the "messenger list" (for more information on "availability" status, see Part
Four, Step 7).
Select the usernames from the messenger list that you want to invite to your conference
and then click the add button in the center of the screen. The names you have added will
appear on the invitation list to the right.
If you wish to include audio in your conference, check "Enable Voice Chat for this
conference" as shown in the screen image below.
Note: All participants must have speakers connected to their computers for a group
conference with audio. Those who plan to speak must use headset mics. Those who do
not have headset mics, can still listen via their computer speakers, but they will have to
type their responses.

After you click the Invite button button on the Invite Contacts to Conference window, the
recipients of your invitation will receive an instant messenger pop-up notice. If someone
(besides yourself) initiates the conference, you will receive the same type of pop-up
message.

4. When the group conference (chat) windows appears:

The username of the person who initiated the conference appears in the
title bar of the conference window.

Usernames will begin appearing in the right column as the invitations are
accepted.
The upper text window displays the transcript of all text that has been
entered by participants.
Under the transcript box, you will see font tools (bold, italic, color, font
type and font size). Those tools only affect the text that you enter.
Under the font tools, you may click the smiley face icon at anytime to
select a particular "emoticon" to accompany the text you are currently
typing.
The format tool next to the smiley face icon toggles the font tools on or
off.
You may send a private side-bar message to anyone whose name appears
in the right column. Click the username and then click the IM button
beneath the username column to open a private message window to that
user.
Enter your text in the lower text window and click send to communicate
with the group.

Voice
Before using Voice as part of your group conference/chat, consider the following:

Although you can listen via your computer's speakers, use a headset mic
if you are going to talk.

If the other participants do not have headset mics, they can still hear you
via their speakers.
The speed of the participants' Internet connections and the quality of their
headset mics will affect the audio quality of your conference. Quality can
range from crackling ham radio to high-end speaker phone. Generally, the
fewer people participating, the greater the overall quality will be (simply
because you are reducing the potential number of quality detractors, such
as slow or spotty Internet connections, bad microphones, etc.).
The audio portion of your chat does not appear in the text window (you
cannot see it, you can only hear it). Keep this in mind if there are any
ADA compliance concerns (those concerns will be based on who is
participating in the chat and whether it is mandatory or optional).
Currently, there is no way to save a transcript of the audio portion of your
chat. Only the text portion can be saved.

To activate Voice chat, you must first click the voice icon at the top of the existing
conference window. If you are a participant in a conference that someone else initiated,
the initiator of that conference may have already enabled voice chat. If so, the title bar of
the conference will say "Voice Chat" followed by the username of the person who
initiated the conference. The voice enabled conference/chat window is identical to the
text conference/chat window with the following exceptions:

The icons located to the left of the users who are able to participate in
voice chat will be wearing headsets. In the screen image below,
umucdemo is able to participate in voice chat, but mikeevanchik is not, as
noted by the absence of headphones on the icon next to his username.
Under the transcript box, you will see Talk and Mute controls/indicators.
As a reminder, if you do not select "Hands Free", you will have to push
the green Talk button every time you want to say something. "Hands
Free" mode works best, unless there are other people in the room with you
or there is significant background noise, which you do not wish to
"play/transmit" into the message. Also, if you have selected "Hands
Free" mode and you need to speak privately to someone standing next to
you, select mute. Otherwise, the person with whom you are instant
messaging will hear everything you say. If your telephone rings while you
are engaged in a Hands-Free voice chat on Yahoo Messenger, you should
also select Mute. Be sure to de-select Mute when you are ready to begin
talking again via Yahoo Messenger.

Video
Participants in a group conference (chat) who have high speed Internet connections and
Webcams installed on their computers can use video as part of the conference .
Starting Your Own Webcam:
Option 1: Before starting a group conference, click the Messenger menu on your contact
list and select Start My Webcam.

A "View My Webcam" link (see image below) will appear next to your name in the IM
contact list of anyone who has added your username to his/her list of contacts.

Option 2: If you are already active in a group chat window, click the Webcam icon
located in the upper left corner of the group conference window. An announcement
should appear in the transcript window indicating that you have activated your Webcam.

Option 3: Select the name of the person on the group conference participant list (right
side of conference window). Select Contact from the tool bar, then select the "Invite to
View My Webcam" from the drop-down box. The person whose name you clicked will
see an invitation to view your Webcam. He or she may accept or decline the invitation.

Regardless of the method you use to activate your Webcam, a warning window will
appear containing the terms and conditions of Yahoo Messenger Webcam service. Click
OK to continue. You may be prompted to select your connection speed.

Viewing Other Participants Webcams:

You do not need to have a Webcam to view another participant's Webcam. There are two
ways to view another participant's Webcam.
Option 1: In your Yahoo Messenger contact list, click the "View My Webcam" link to
the right of the contact's ID/name in your Messenger List. If there is no "View My
Webcam" link, the person either does not have a Webcam or he/she hasn't activated it.

Option 2: If you are already active in a group conference window, place your cursor over
a name in group conference participant list, right click, and then select View Webcam.

Depending on the participant's IM preferences (settings), he/she may have to grant

permission for you to view his/her Webcam before the Webcam image appears, as shown
below.

If the person does not have a Webcam installed, or the Webcam is not turned on, you
may see the following error message:

You may repeat this process as many times as you want, based on how many participants
are active in the group chat session. However, the more Webcam windows you open, the
more difficult it will be to make room for all of them on your computer screen. Also,
with more than one or two Webcam windows open at once, you will notice a
considerable delay in the frame rate of each video.

Note
To view your own Webcam image, place your cursor over your own name in the group
chat participant list, right click, and select View Webcam.
You can adjust the display properties of the Webcam windows by using the Webcam
menu located inside the Webcam window (see screen shot below):

Select "always on top" to force a Webcam window to remain on top of

your open instant message window. Note: If you do this to everyone
Webcam window you have opened during a group chat, you will most
likely obscure your view of the group chat window.
Select Small if a Webcam image is too large, relative to the instant
message window.
If you have opened your own Webcam image (see tip above) and you
which to immediately cease transmitting your image to the participants of
the group chat, de-select Broadcast from the Webcam menu of your own
Webcam window.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Only the text portion of your instant message/chat session
can be saved. To save the transcript, select "Save As..." from the Conversation menu
located in the upper left corner of the message box. You must click "Save As...." before
you close the message window. Once the message window is closed, you will not be able
to save or retrieve the text of your chat.