A missionary colleague of mine was recently lamenting that churches and missionary agencies seem to be lagging behind in their use of video links with their missionaries. Do you agree or disagree? He pointed to easy-to-use tools, some of which have been referenced previously here in Brigada. Of course, the most well-known tool is Skype. However, as my friend pointed out, Skype requires a download. There are other sites like
which do not. Tokbox is free, like Skype, but doesn’t offer a connection to the public telephone grid (“Skype out”). At the same time, Tokbox remarkably allows you to add as many video conference connections as your internet bandwidth will allow, all completely free. And for what it’s worth, it embeds in Facebook and — Twitter. (Call me old-fashioned, but I still can’t bring myself to try Twitter. I keep wondering why anyone would ever care?)
As in all web tools, please remember to exercise caution regarding security. TokBox apparently has *no* security features whatsoever. Let the user beware. For users that can’t or won’t use a VPN, maybe Skype is a better option?
How ’bout you? Do you think we’re behind on this stuff? Any comments on TokBox’s lack of security or privacy? To comment, just click “Comment” below…
Our agency has been using Oovoo and we’re very pleased with the ability to have 6 video chats at once. I’ll have to check tokbox out sometime, though.
Hey Doug,
You said:
(Call me old-
fashioned, but I still can’t bring myself to try Twitter. I keep
wondering why anyone would ever care?)
I have been thinking a great way to use Twitter is for real-time prayer requests. Missionaries can write a quick text (“I am going to speak to someone about the Lord” or “We are trying to get our visas at the embassy – pray now.”) and have it go out to their prayer supporters.
I have also thought of having a small ban of people committed to praying for one another (4-5). Each person could then twitter their prayer requests as the day progresses. It is usually in the “mundane” tasks throughout the day that we are living out our faith. This is also a great way for international workers to stay connected with others.
Other than that, I agree — why would anyone ever want to do twitter?
dale.
OK — I agree… those *are* unique and relevant uses of the new concept. :-) Maybe I *was* just being a sick-in-the-mud. :-)