A feature-rich software application that works with off-the-shelf web cameras and camcorders to provide a monitoring solution with video and audio recording capabilities. Eyecopia helps you create a simple monitoring system with hardware that you may already have in your home.

A webcam, computer and internet connection are all you need to get started. Once connected, Eyecopia will monitor multiple cameras for you and create events. Events are the video files, and associated information, that are created by the program when motion is detected by a monitored camera. If available, Eyecopia will record audio to these files as well.

Eyecopia will then send event notifications to your cellular phone, email, or other networked computers using Eyecopia Remote to let you know. Users have intuitive and flexible control of how, when, and where these notifications are sent.

Eyecopia excels at allowing you to interact and manage these events at your own convenience, in very simple and efficient ways. You'll love features such as Eyecopia's unique categorization capabilities and the ability to add sticky notes to events.

Download Eyecopia 2.0.7 in Softonic

Cerberus is an easy to use webcam monitoring application. Monitor up to ten webcams in realtime, in a fully configurable environment. Upload captured images from each camera to a seperate website/intranet/network/ftp site. Save images at regular intervals in a 'time lapse' sequence - or do all of the above - for each camera.

The application has many uses, monitoring the outside of your house, monitor your house while you are at work, keep track of a baby that is sleeping upstairs.

This is what Cerberus has to offer:

• Monitor up to ten cameras at any one time
• Captured images from each camera can got to separate locations
• Each webcam can capture at a different size and different interval
• Option to save every captured image in 'time lapse' mode
• Option to activate capturing at specific times every day
• Built in viewer / player for captured time lapse images
• Add overlay graphics to the final saved / uploaded image
• Motion capture modes
• Alpha blending on overlay images
• Rotate mode, cycles through available webcams

Download Cerberus 3.1 Beta in Softonic

LogiSphere lets you have your own web server for publishing images taken by your web cam, and in doing so you can not only share moments with your family or friends but also use the program as a security system.

The program comes with a wide variety of options, such as taking images every so often and publishing them to a web address or automatically sending you an email in the case of the camera detecting movement. You may also save all the recordings to the hard-drive or to an FTP server, create a video stream and much more.

Download LogiSphere 2.0.7 in Softonic

TooMeeting Conference is the videoconference software that allows unlimited users to communicate without installing any program regardless of the connection quality or configuration. Therefore TooMeeting Conference is the ideal solution for holding meetings, collaborations, multiconferences, elearning communications, etc.

Thereby it stands as the multimedia application for real time conferences, that allows an unlimited number of users to participate in an interactive way on events, where you can simultaneously share:

• Video
• Audio
• Text
• Desktop
• Blackboard
• Presentations, slides
• Documents and various reports

Download TooMeeting Conference 3.2 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

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 1.7.1.38 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 3.5 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 5.0.4.8 in Softonic

go1984 turns your PC into a video surveillance system that is comparable with any of the more expensive systems currently on the market. View your hall door, your warehouse or your summer home. Keep an eye on what's happening in your absence.

The app contains a variety of professional video monitoring tools such as:

• Live-Monitoring
• Recording (timer controlled, motion triggered or permanent)
• Controlling of PTZ cameras
• Alarm function (acoustic, via e-mail or voice-call via ISDN)
• Remote control via network or internet
• Scheduler for automatic recording

Download go1984 3.7.2.5 in Softonic

One of the biggest temptations when chatting on the Internet is playing a joke on the person you're talking to. And AV WebCam Morpher can be a really good help.

AV WebCam Morpher is especially designed for video chats. The program replaces your current webcam video signal with a fake video loop that shows a completely different person. This means that it'll be this character's face – and not yours – the one that will appear on the video window on whichever IM client you're using.

You can choose between different people in AV WebCam Morpher. Video loops are quite elaborate: people on them play a very credible role while pretending to be typing on a keyboard or looking at the screen. What's more, AV WebCam Morpher includes a smiley menu with which you can make them laugh, dance, grin and many other visual gestures that are part of body language.

AV WebCam Morpher is quite easy to set up, and is also compatible with popular IM clients such as Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Camfrog, PalTalk Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. On the downside, its interface could be greatly improved.

With AV WebCam Morpher you can play a funny joke on your video IM client pretending to be someone else.

Download AV Webcam Morpher 2.0.23 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 5.05 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

CamTrack is a unique webcam software that enhances the way people video chat. Amuse your friends with funny animations and webcam emoticons. Keep your face centered automatically with automatic Face Tracking. Improve the quality of your webcam picture with noise reduction or share pictures with your friends through your webcam.

Features of CamTrack:

• Webcam animations
• Text overlays
• Picture overlays
• Face tracking
• Video noise reduction
• Easy and friendly to use

Download CamTrack 2.4.0 in Softonic

BabyWatch is something that every parent should have installed - an easy way of monitoring your child when they are out of your sight.

As the developers say, the program is sophisticated but user-friendly and works by issuing spoken messages as to whether the baby is asleep or awake. How does it do this? By using your webcam as a monitoring tool. According to the developers, it can even detect whether the baby has stopped breathing or stopped moving although we would not like to verify this as guaranteed since it is such a serious claim to make. Once setup, the program works by monitoring the change of pixels so it triggers an alert in the program as soon as something happens with your child. However, it's obviously really annoying to be sent an alert when the child simply turns or moves in it's sleep so the program can be adjusted to sensitivity according to the movements of your baby. If the webcam includes a microphone, you can also hear whether the baby is crying, laughing, coughing, mumbling, etc.

This is a highly sophisticated tool that I'm sure every parent will find useful although it's obviously best to use it with caution rather than a fail-safe mechanism for monitoring your child.

Download BabyWatch 2.0 in Softonic

Everyone always bangs on about how wonderful the Net is as a means of researching and finding out information. Whilst this may be true, it is a wild overestimation to say that the Internet is mainly used for this purpose. In fact, many people online use the Internet as a tool for hooking up with mates and meeting new people. As a consequence, there are dozens of web video chat apps that have sprung up and Camfrog represents a slight break from the norm.

In terms of video and sound quality, Camfrog is second to none, offering pixel-perfect visuals and crisp, clear sounds. One of the other things that makes this app stand out from the vast ranks of similar programs is its ability to allow you to chat to more than one person at a time. The ‘Pro’ version also offers the chance to resize the video chat window, which is great when dealing with friends whose camera runs at a different resolution. Unfortunately though, you cannot resize the window to your preference, as you need to choose from a series of preset sizes.

The interface is fairly simple to get around, but perhaps it would have benefited from some more options within the contact list window and the ability to make the window smaller than it currently allows. Nevertheless, Camfrog is a great program for enabling online video chat and boasts a video quality unheard of in many of its rivals. If you want something simple to be able to see and talk to friends on the Net, Camfrog is a worthy option.

Download Camfrog Video Chat 4.1.82 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

UWatchIt is designed as a platform to control several security cameras at the same time on a single screen. In addition to collecting the image of the cameras, if the cameras support it, it can even detect movement which automatically triggers the recording mode. If necessary, the program can be configured to send a message via e-mail or the latest transmittable images to an FTP server.

UWatchIt has four operating modes - real-time vision, vision and continuous recording. Vision and recording are designed for when it detects movement, and vision and recording sequences are used to edit video before the recording has been completed. This program allows any organisation to set up their own security system with minimal fuss. It's particularly useful for shop owners or home owners who want peace of mind while they are away.

This is a superb monitoring program that allows anyone to take security into their own hands.

Download uWatchIt 5.0 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

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

SurveillizCam turns your USB webcam or capture card into a digital remote camera surveillance system. It can monitor your home and office by stably detecting motion and logging surveillance video into AVI with MPEG1 or MPEG4 codecs for up to 16 channels simultaneously. You are notified of abnormal motion in your place of monitoring via sound alarm or live videos over Internet. You can also create schedules to automatically record video, detect motion and launch network functions. All logged video can be played back with Windows Media Player or SurveillizCam's video management and playback system.

This software also features with central surveillance (SpyCenter) and remote surveillance (SpyEverywhere) programs. Hundreds SurveillizCam instances can connect and send live surveillance video to one SpyCenter which would be located at a central monitoring office. On the other hand, SpyEverywhere lets you connect to and see live surveillance video of your SurveillizCam via Internet. Surveillicam has other powerful function such as disk space recycle, full screen viewing, password lock, client management, etc.

Download SurveillizCam 1.16.1 in Softonic