If you regularly conduct video calls or video conferencing with more than one person, then ooVoo is an elegant and powerful video conferencing and IM client that combines elegance with functionality.

With ooVoo you can talk face-to-face with up to six people, add an ooVoo link to your blog or online profiles (so others can instantly add you to their contacts), send and receive video messages and best of all, it's completely free. To get started, you need to create an ooVoo ID which is fairly painless although a bit annoying as all registration forms can be. Once you've started the setup process, you'll be asked to create an ooVoo username and password. You'll also be asked to add a few friends and contacts to your ooVoo account although if like me, you don't know anyone using ooVoo, you can simply elect to send invites. Unlike some video conferencing applications, it's very easy to get up and running with your webcam and it can handle very high quality cameras of up to 2 megapixels depending on the speed of your connection. During chats and video calls, you can add effects to video such as sepia, blurring and morphing although it seems to take some time in applying these successfully. ooVoo also serves as a VoIP app although unfortunately, it only serves mobiles and landlines in the USA and Canada at the moment. What's really nice about ooVoo though is the ability to place your contacts, and their video images, down the side of your screen in a sidebar simultaneously. This way, you can chat away to all of them at the same time and see them at once. This does hog quite a bit of your RAM though if you're not working on with at least 1GB of RAM or more.

An impressive video conferencing and chat IM although it would be interesting to see how it performs when a maximum of 6 people are trying to conduct a video conference at the same time.

Download ooVoo 1.6.1.10 in Softonic

Eyeball Chat allows you to communicate face-to-face over the Internet for free. All you need is an Internet connection and a Webcam to connect with friends and family worldwide. The Contact List allows you to see which of your contacts are online at anytime, so you can instantly engage in live video chat.

Features:

• Support for AIM, MSN, and Yahoo messengers
• Support for integrated chat rooms with improved privacy
• The ability to record and send video messages
• File transfer

• SSL encryption

Download EyeBall Chat 2.2 in Softonic

There are plenty of special effects we can add to IM clients in the form of emoticons, avatars and pictures.

But webcams are generally restricted to nothing but the image you see. However, with WebcamMax Full, you can add all manner of special effects and images to webcam images to make your broadcasts and webcam sessions more interesting. WebcamMax adds videos, pictures and effects to virtual/real Webcams and broadcasts on messenger services.

You can add videos, screenshots, pictures, flash and effects to virtual or real Webcams and messengers including the most popular IM clients such as ICQ, AIM, MSN, Camfrog, Skype, Paltalk, Yahoo, ANYwebcam and Stickam. You can also add special motion effects (Frame, Transform, and Emotion) over your webcam image. If you find that the program doesn't offer you enough effects, you can also download up to 1500 more from the developer's website. Apart from having fun, this program can enhance your YouTube videos or blogcasts by changing the background or environment from where you are broadcasting from.

Perhaps the most useful feature however doesn't relate to effects at all and relates to PinP (Picture in Picture). So for example, you want to talk about a certain part in a film with a friend or discuss it in a review, WebcamMax Full allows you to choose an alternative source which plays in the corner of your webcam in a smaller screen while you talk.

An interesting webcam tool which can be used for fun or more serious pursuits like picture in picture to get the most out of your webcam.

Download WebcamMax Full 5.0.3.8 in Softonic

ManyCam is a highly flexible webcamera for all occasions. You can add text to your webcam video window with any application.

You can also add cool animations in your video window and display both your local day and date in your video window.

There's also an option to add live CGI graphics like fire and water effects and even make it appear as if it is snowing inside your house. Have more fun with your webcam today!

Download ManyCam 2.0 in Softonic

Not long ago, webcams were mainly used for holding videoconferences over the Internet. Now there's a wide choice of software applications that allow you to make the most of your webcam, ranging from surveillance tools to image-capture utilities and also featuring fun webcam apps like Snap.

The aim behind an application like Snap is, in fact, quite simple: take pictures with your webcam and add effects to them. But beyond that simplicity, Snap stands out for being extremely easy to use and obtaining fun results in no time.

Once installed, launch the program and you'll immediately see the image taken by your webcam. That is, you don't need to configure anything nor go through any setup wizard at all. Snap automatically detects your webcam and offers you all its tools to begin playing around. We say "play" because this is what you're going to do with Snap. Don't expect to create serious, professional photo collages like you would do with other graphic editors. Snap is a fun tool, therefore it's intended to obtain casual photo compositions that you can use to play a joke on a friend, create an original avatar for your favourite IM client or design a custom greeting card.

Snap includes quite a variety of filters to apply to your photos, such as night vision, mirror effect, black and white, sepia or cartoon style. Using them is a cinch: just select a given filter, see what it looks like in the preview window and click on the snap button to capture the image if you like the result. Snapshots are automatically saved in a specified folder, but unfortunately you can't to select their size or format.

Besides filters, Snap also offers a bunch of clipart graphics that you can add to your photos to liven them up, as easy as dragging and dropping them anywhere on the image. You can resize and rotate these graphics simply with your mouse, to make them fit your pictures perfectly.

Although you can use the program just to save customized webcam snapshots, Snap also enables you to share these pictures by uploading them to their own photo hosting service, Snapstrip. Simply turn the sharing option on and enter a valid e-mail address in the program's settings. You'll receive a message with a link to view your photos online and share them with your friends. It's a pity Snap is not compatible with other popular online photo systems, like Flickr. We also missed the possibility to do more with our pictures, like printing them or sending them by e-mail.

All in all, Snap is an incredibly easy-to-use application that can provide hours of fun with just a webcam and some creativity. Give it a try and you won't be disappointed.

Download Snap 1.0 in Softonic

If you're looking for a webcam that doubles up as a webcam, image capturing device and even a security camera, then you should take a look at CamUniversal.

What's really interesting about this app is that it includes a network server so that you can send images and viewing information from one PC to another which makes it an ideal monitoring device. There is a built-in motion detector which allows you to select which areas of the video are tested for motion, when, where and how. In this way, it allows you to target a specific part of your house or home without worrying about the consequences. The program also features video recording functions, picture capturing, external program execution, log file creation, sound playing, FTP transfer, email sending and there is also a scheduler. You can upload the images to an FTP server, a webpage or use a company LAN to distribute the images. Probably the only major problem is setting-up the software to work with your webcam - it doesn't seem particularly friendly with all webcams and you may not be able to get it up and running at the first attempt.

A useful webcam tool that doubles up as a security camera but may cause some problems during setup.

Download CamUniversal 3.4 in Softonic

Festoon (formerly vSkype) adds video and sharing to your Skype experience. Getting started is simple. Just connect a camera, download our free Festoon plug-in, and invite up to 200 buddies to a video call - even if they don't have a camera. You can also share anything you see on your screen, even your entire desktop. Whether you use Skype for business or to connect with family and friends, now you can show a presentation, work on a spreadsheet, or share photos of your weekend fun while seeing everyone on the call.

Download Festoon 1.3.213 Beta in Softonic

Your webcam can be much more than just a communication device - it can help protect your property while you are away.

Webcam Monitor provides you with email notification along with a photo directly into your mailbox as soon as a motion or noise intrusion is detected by your webcam. You can customize alerts so that you can even receive video and audio recordings, snapshots with date and time, alarms and SMS notifications. In addition, you can automatically upload recorded video, audio, and snaps to an FTP server of your choice. It goes far beyond just monitoring small areas though - you can also monitor large areas using multiple cameras with recording sessions set to start and end at any time of the day.

All movement and any monitored activity is recorded in an event log for quick reference later. On the other hand, if you want your security cam images to be broadcasted live on the internet, you can set up a web site where the images are constantly updated by WebCam Monitor. In addition, limited enhancement is possible as you can digitally zoom any camera up to 200 and configure one or several cameras to focus on one particular area.

Webcam Monitor can turn your webcam into a powerful security monitoring device that you can control from any location.

Download Webcam Monitor 5.01 in Softonic

WebCam Viewer is a small tool that allows you to monitor webcams from all over the world. The program can automatically refresh and cycle through the list of webcams. It can also run in fullscreen mode. WebCam Viewer comes pre-loaded with several web cam locations, and you can edit existing cams or easily add your own.

Download WebCam Viewer 4.2005 in Softonic

If you need some basic surveillance for your home or small business but can't afford a professional system, Secure Cam may be the right choice.

As I said, it's a fairly basic system but it may work for you if you don't need advanced features. Secure Cam is also very easy to use: simply run it after plugging in your camera and you're ready to go. One tip: to open the program's settings menu, double click on the camera image – after spending a while looking for it, I'm still wondering why they didn't add a standard Settings menu.

This configuration menu allows you to select the motion detection threshold and set the program to take pictures whenever there's movement in front of the camera. You can also overlay a text on the image as a watermark, and flip or rotate the image.

Secure Camera works pretty well and takes pictures in the right moment. Also, it includes a special viewer where you can review all the captured images frame by frame. On the downside, it doesn't feature the possibility to capture video or warn you in any way (e-mail, text message) every time it detects movement.

Secure Cam is a basic surveillance system with which you can keep an eye on your home or office with the help of your webcam.

Download Secure Cam 1.0 in Softonic

Use fake webcam to play you pre-recorded videos on instant messengers (Yahoo, MSN, Paltalk etc) while chatting. It can even broadcast one single movie to all the messengers at the same time.

Fake webcam enables you to:

• Play pre-recorded videos without even having a physical webcam
• Have a virtual personality
• Keep your privacy by pretending to be some one else

Download Fake Webcam 4.5 in Softonic

Dorgem is a webcam capture application for Windows 9x and up. Any Video for Windows compatible webcam (or other digital camera) is supported. It has unlimited storage events that can put the captured image on an FTP site as well as a local disk, all with their own time interval. It can put a unlimited texts and bitmaps on the captured image before the image is stored. Dorgem supports an unlimited number of simultaneous cameras. It has a built-in webserver for still images and can be used as security camera because of its motion detection.

Download Dorgem 2.10 in Softonic

BRAVIS Galaxee 4free (formerly BRAVIS Pico) allows you to conduct videoconferencing between multiple users simultaneously using just an Internet connection and a webcam and microphone.

The advantage of this program is that you do not need additional hardware or dedicated servers. It has been developed with closed groups in mind using peer to peer connections. It's especially useful when performing negotiations or interviews as you can add other users at any time. Bravis Galaxee 4free adapts the quality of the call to the type of connection you have which means that communication is usually pretty stable. In addition, you have a chat client which can also accept new additions at any time. Overall, the program is very easy to use and you never feel like you have to explain to other users how they may join and remove themselves from conversations at any time. If you need to be able to conduct video conferences with an unlimited number of users, then you'll find BRAVIS Galaxee 4free an easy to use and solid solution.

A very good multiple video conferencing app which doesn't require installation and is easy enough for anyone to use.

Download BRAVIS Galaxy 4free 1.5 in Softonic

Webcam Greetings Studio is a small application which lets you create beautiful video e-greetings with an original design, straight from your desktop camera and in a very easy way. The program offers you a colorful way to express yourself in video and surprise your friends and relatives.

For special occasions or just for fun

Webcam greetings is a new way to communicate with family, friends, business colleagues, customers and anybody else, your emails never looked like this before!

Create hilarious gags in just seconds

Webcam Greetings helps you create better content and get higher viewing ratings for your webcam videos on the web, try it out and see immediate results, your audience will be craving for more!

No need to wait for him/her to read emails

Surprise your friends wherever they may be, in real time! Make someone special laugh to his mobile screen just because you can!

Download Webcam Greetings Studio 0.94 Beta in Softonic

Move Action is designed to allows your webcam to detects motion and set it up as a security camera.

This can be used to trigger a blocking mechanism on your PC or signal an alarm. Alarms can either be sent via e-mail or even text to warn you of intruders. The PC blocking function works by blocking your PC and requiring a password to access it again. It can also save webcam shots in JPG format and then send them submit them by mail or transfer them by FTP, play a sound file or run external applications. However, as impressive as this is, the most intriguing feature of this program is that it can compare two images captured at different intervals. This way you can monitor a site without having to look at the videos on the camera constantly. This saves you sitting there for hours on end monitoring and is great if you need to use evidence to prosecute or charge someone.

A great little program for those concerned with security although the configuration is rather complicated.

Download Move Action 2.0 in Softonic

Turning your PC into a home surveillance device is not as difficult as you might imagine with webcams so readily available nowadays.

Cam Wizard makes it possible to set up multiple web cameras as a CCTV audio/video surveillance system with motion detection in a just a few clicks. The program captures motion footage in video and audio is captured as a compressed WMV movie. It would have been nice to be able to choose which format the footage is saved in as I'm not a big WMV fan but still, it's workable and you can always convert it later.

The program gives you the option of sending any captured footage as an email attachment and most importantly, features a built in SMTP client which means it doesn't require any user interaction with outlook express etc. No messy e-mail configuration to carry out - just leave it running in your system tray and your work is done.

Alternatively, for large amounts of footage that may not fit in an e-mail, you can instruct Cam Wizard to upload footage to an FTP server which gives you the advantage of being able to view a webcam that's behind a firewall - great for keeping an eye on your property while you are at work. Viewing itself couldn't be easier either - the program supplies you with a static URL address that you can use to access your cam page from any location.

You've got it all here for a total security solution so make the best of your webcams with Cam Wizard.

Download Cam Wizard 8.01 in Softonic

Active WebCam broadcasts live video up to 20 frames per second from any web camera. The captured video can be viewed using any Internet browser, no plug-ins or downloads required. The program can be used as a surveillance system and when it detects motion in the monitored area, it sounds an alarm, e-mails you the captured images, starts broadcasting or records a video.

Key features:

• Works with all USB and Parallel Port cameras, Windows compatible Capture Devices and Framegrabbers, TV-boards, and with Network IP Cameras.
• Broadcasts live video up to 30 frames per second.
• Multiple cameras support. Simultaneous recording and broadcasting from unlimited number of cameras.
• Dynamic IP Service, that gives a permanent internet address to your web camera whenever IP of your computer changes.
• Time stamps captured video.
• Broadcasts audio.
• Supports Encrypted Transmission.
• Records password protected video clips.
• Performs Live Recording that allows rewind and playback captured content at any time.
• Has features to control camera's Pan, Tilt, and Zoom.
• Helps you to create web page for your web camera.
• Records video when a motion is detected.
• Allows to view recorded video remotely.
• Sends e-mail and SMS when motion detected.
• Runs a program when a motion is detected.
• Allows to define the active area for motion detection.
• Creates thumbnails from captured images.
• Has a comprehensive scheduler.
• Checks the available space on hard drive and stops recording if there is no available space.
• User name and password to control access to your camera and recorded videos from Internet.
• Has feature to limit number of camera viewers.
• Stealth mode makes the program completely invisible that it doesn't display any icon in the sys tool tray and it is not presented in the task bar tray.
• Password protection from unauthorized usage.
• Ability to run the program as Windows service that the program starts automatically at system boot and executes even when no user is logged on to the system.

Download Active WebCam 10.2 in Softonic

Yawcam is short for "yet another webcam software", and that is exactly what it is. Yawcam can do the following:

• Video streaming
• Snapshots
• Built-in webserver
• Ftp-upload
• Easy-to-use controlpanel
• Supports jpg/gif/png
• Time/date info in the image
• Password protection
• Online annoucements for communities

Download Yawcam 0.3.0 in Softonic

CamSplitter software allows to use one webcam driver and device in multiple applications without locking the device. This software is designed to work like a bridge between one webcam device and several webcam software applications.

Download CamSplitter 2.5 in Softonic

This video recorder tool has been especially designed to record video with your webcam and export it to any of the several video websites available nowadays on the Internet. Therefore, don't expect a high-tech video editor because CoffeeCup Video Recorder is not that; this tool is just a basic recorder with no quality options that works mostly as an optimizer for videos that will be embedded in websites.

CoffeeCup Video Recorder supports many popular video sites and what's more, allows you to add new ones to the list. We didn't have any problem when testing it with our webcam, although we didn't manage to get a text overlay on the image, not even checking the Help system.

In all, CoffeeCup Video Recorder is quite simple but at the same time very useful for those little fun clips you usually upload to the Internet.

Download CoffeeCup Video Recorder 3.0 in Softonic