Video conferencing….in groups. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Web cams are being built into lots of notebook computers these days…and add-ons are pretty inexpensive. And a free software application called ooVoo lets you make use of those Web cams…to bring groups of family members or friends…or even co-workers together. It allows up to six people at a time to join in a video conference. ooVoo CEO Philippe Schwartz…..says while it may be similar to other instant messenger programs in some ways….there are some key differences…

"You have a list of contacts to which you can add more people. The main difference with the instant messaging, is really the ability to …the fact that we are centrically focused on the video. We're not a text application or text messaging solution like Yahoo Messaging or AOL or these kind of things to which they've been adding video capability. This is really centrally focusing on video. You double click on the name of your contact and you see the person immediately. You want to add another person into that call, you click on another icon and you bring that person into that call."

You do need a high speed Internet connection…but even with multiple video windows open…the quality is good. Again, the application is free at o-o-v-o-o.com. The company hopes to make money through mobile and other add on applications. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.