Make a video call

Step by step

1. Click the Start button! Look at the bottom of this practice computer: the dark strip there is its taskbar. In the middle of it, click the Start button (four blue squares). The main menu opens just above it. If you see two taskbars, use the one inside this page.
2. Click "Video Chat". In the menu that opened, click the "Video Chat" tile (a square with a small picture and its name under it): the app opens in its own window.
3. Call Emily Carter. In the list, on the line "Emily Carter", click "Video call".
4. Allow the camera and microphone. The first time, the computer asks if Video Chat may use your camera and microphone. Emily needs to see and hear you: click "Allow".
5. Wait for Emily to answer. The computer is calling. Wait a few seconds: Emily answers and you see each other. What Emily says is written at the bottom of the video.
6. End the call. Click the red button "End" at the bottom.
7. Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Video Chat" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.

These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.

More lessons in Video calls

• Answer a video call
• Mute your microphone during a call
• Turn your camera off and on
• Send a written message during a call
• Decline a call and call back later