Fig 1.0 Click on the Yahoo Messenger icon to continue
| HOW TO SET UP YAHOO MESSENGER |
These days people are always looking for a way to save money, especially with Telephone Calls. Fortunately in the UK we have broadband companies, such as
TalkTalk, that offer Broadband/Telephone Packages consisting of FREE UK Calls (24 Hours), Free International Calls (to 36 Countries),
Broadband (24 Hours) and so on.....with Terms & Conditions applying of course (which means some calls can only be 60 Minutes in length).
Anyway! The point I am making here is that regardless of the Telephone Package, on the Broadband Package you can use a Messenger program such as Yahoo Messenger,
Windows Live Messenger or Skype to make FREE Local/National/International Telephone Calls without a 60 Minutes limit for example. Why? Because the
telephone call goes down your Broadband Line and is therefore covered by your monthly Broadband (Bandwidth) Usage. Do not worry about the technicals
though. As long as you have a Broadband Connection and a Messenger program installed you can make live telephone calls. With an optional Web Camera you
can also broadcast yourself to friends and family. As can they with their webcam.
In this section I will show you how to set up yahoo messenger in preparation for a live communication and in the next section I will show you how to make
an actual call with webcam, speakers and a microphone. So these examples are in two parts - Set Up and Actual Communication. In these examples I am using
a TalkTalk broadband service and the Yahoo Messenger program, which I have already downloaded and installed, but these sections should apply to other
messengers too. Messengers are more or less the same in standard features. They normally only look different or carry out a task (feature) in a slightly
different way. Before you begin with the examples in these sections you need the following:
Yahoo E-Mail Account - If you do not have a Yahoo E-Mail Account enter http://www.uk.yahoo.com/
(Yahoo UK) or http://www.yahoo.com/ (Yahoo International) into internet explorer's Address Bar edit
box and then click on its GO button. From there, locate and click on the SIGN UP button in order to create a yahoo e-mail account.
Yahoo Messenger - To download it simply enter http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/ (UK) or
http://www.messenger.yahoo.com (International) into internet explorer's Address Bar edit
box and then click on its GO button, or click on one of the links above, in order to bring up and RUN the installation wizard. See the SOFTWARE section
for examples of a typical software installation, if need be.
A Live Broadband Connection - Make sure your computer or laptop is connected to a live broadband connection, either via an Ethernet Cable or via a
Wireless Broadband Signal. Although it is better to be connected via an Ethernet Cable (Wireless Signals can be fragile at times - Dropped Signal,
Interference, 10% Loss over an ethernet cable and so on).
Microphone/Headphones Headset - Use quality headphones with a quality built-in microphone. A USB Headset (Headphones and Microphone combined) is
generally better quality than a traditional, pink and green, Phono Jack Headset. This is because they come with a built-in sound card device that is
digital and usually of much higher quality than the sound card device built-in to a laptop for example.
When you have installed Yahoo Messenger, via the installation wizard, you can begin setting it up by clicking on the Yahoo Messenger icon located on the
desktop or taskbar. This will open the Messenger window (Fig 1.1 below).
When the Messenger window appears you need to enter your Yahoo ID. This consists of the User Name & Password you used when signing up for a Yahoo E-Mail Account. In this example my Yahoo ID is computer.lessons. After entering your password you may then want to put a tick next to the option REMEMBER MY ID & PASSWORD before clicking on the SIGN IN button. This will save your user name and password details so that next time around you only need to click on the SIGN IN button. This is only ideal when you can trust others with your computer/laptop, or when you are the only computer/laptop user, of course.
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After clicking on the SIGN IN button and being logged in (signed in) to Yahoo Messenger you are then greeted by a Import Contacts window, on first use only. It allows you to import Contacts from your yahoo e-mail account, and from Microsoft Outlook if need be, but if you have no Contacts to import yet you can skip this next example by closing the Import Contacts window and jumping straight to Fig 2.0. Otherwise click on the START ADDING FRIENDS button and follow the easy steps from Figures 1.3 to 1.6.
In the above example I had no contacts to import, simply because I had just opened a new yahoo e-mail account and also do not have Microsoft Outlook installed, therefore I have no messenger (contacts) list built yet. If this is your situation too you, like me, will have to manually build a messenger (contacts) list (Fig 2.0) before continuing any further. If you did have a contacts list imported using the above Import Contacts wizard, and therefore now have a messenger (contacts) list built, proceed to Fig 3.0 instead.
| MANUALLY ADD CONTACTS |
To manually create a Messenger (Contacts) List you need to go to the bottom of the main yahoo, sign-in, window and click on the ADD A CONTACT button. This will bring up the Add To Messenger List window (Fig 2.1) where you then need to enter someone's e-mail address or yahoo id (i.e. a friend's e-mail address) in order to create a messenger (contacts) list. When you have entered an e-mail address or yahoo id into that edit box click on the NEXT button to continue.
With an e-mail address or yahoo id entered, on the next page (below) click on its NEXT button to continue. It asks you which group you would like to put your new contact into. At the moment the only groups available, by default, is the Friends group; so there is no other group to select of course.
If you wanted to create a group before coming to this Add A Contact area you could have done so by clicking on the CONTACTS menu and hovering down to the MANAGE GROUPS sub-menu, where you would of then clicked on the CREATE NEW GROUP sub-menu menu-item to create a new group.....called Family for example. All is not lost though because you can move a contact around, into a new group, after creating that contact.
After clicking on the above NEXT button (above) a message will automatically be sent to your new contact informing them that you would like to add them to your messenger list (in this example - jchynes2009: John White (computer.lessons) wants to add you to his messenger list). This is great if the person knows you and more precisely your Yahoo ID, but what if they do not know it? or do not know your last name? They might not allow you to add them to your messenger list. It is for these scenarios that Yahoo has provided you with an additional INTRODUCTION edit box that allows you to add additional, optional, information about yourself as a means to further identify yourself. So use it if need be before clicking on the NEXT button (above). From there, on the next page (below) click on the FINISH button to continue.
At this point you have created a contact to add to your messenger list (i.e. jchynes2009) and now have to wait for that contact to respond to the message
Yahoo Messenger has automatically sent them with your request to add them to your messenger list. Hence why you have the words ADD REQUEST PENDING
underneath your new contact's name (Fig 2.4 above). As soon as your new contact has granted you permission to add them to your messenger (contacts) list
that wording will disappear.
Waiting for a contact to approve you can take minutes, hours, days or weeks for example depending on how often they sign in to their yahoo messenger,
whether or not they are on holiday or ill for example. So it might be worth your while calling them via telephone, if necessary, just to let them know
you have added them to your messenger list and are waiting for a response from them.
This is what things look like from their end. In fig 2.5 they have received your request, automatically sent by yahoo messenger, and have to decide
whether or not to allow your request - Whether or not to allow you to add them to your messenger list. They should leave the first two options selected
and just click on the NEXT button to continue. From there, their next (and last) window informs them that yahoo messenger will send out an automatic
reply/response (on their behalf) to let you know they have accepted your request (Fig 2.6). With this knowledge they should then click on their FINISH
button in order for that reply/response to be sent out.
Back at your end you will receive the reply/response from your contact stating they in turn would like to add your contact information to their yahoo messenger list. If you wish this to happen simply make sure that the ALLOW THIS PERSON..... option is selected and then click on the FINISH button to proceed. Both of you will then be able to communicate with each other.
Before you get all excited by the fact that communication is now possible between the two of you, you should make sure your headset (microphone and headphones) is set up correctly and ready to go.
| SET UP YOUR WEBCAM AND HEADSET |
Setting up your headset should be very easy but saying this I have come across cases whereby people do not even know how to plug them into the correct
sockets, even though they are labelled with a symbol of Microphone and Headphones. So just to make sure you know. The GREEN 3.5mm Jack (Plug) goes into
the Headphones/Speakers socket on your sound card (computer socket) and the PINK 3.5mm Jack (Plug) goes into the Mic/Microphone socket on your sound card
(computer socket). And if you are using a USB Headset it can be plugged into any available USB Port (socket).
When you have plugged the headset into the correct, sound card, computer sockets click on the yahoo messenger ACTIONS menu and select the CALL SETUP
menu-item. This will open up the Yahoo! Call Setup Assistant window (Fig 3.1) which is an introduction only and therefore only needs its NEXT button
clicking on.
The next window to appear asks you to speak (read a sentence) into your Microphone. As you do this a coloured guage will go across the window to indicate the loudness and sensitivity of your microphone and more importantly if your microphone is working at all. If it is not you will see an advice message, otherwise you will see the Successful message. Click on the NEXT button when your microphone is successfully set up.
One simple reason why you might not be able to get your microphone working, besides it not being plugged in correctly!, is because it might not be selected as the default microphone. To check this just look at the MICROPHONE drop-down menu to make sure your microphone, or headset, name is selected. If it is not, hence why your microphone is not registering with yahoo messenger, simply click on the MICROPHONE drop-down menu and then select the microphone or headset you are using.
After clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 3.2 above), the next step is to check your headphones by listening to the Musical Notes that will automatically begin to play. If you cannot hear them you may need to use the SPEAKERS drop-down menu to select your current headphones/headset. When you can hear the musical notes adjust the volume control/slider, if need be, and then click on the FINISH button.
One thing to note here is that even if you can hear the sound (musical notes) yahoo messenger has this stupid timeout feature whereby it shows you the
above advice message after 10 seconds simply because it assumes you cannot hear the sound, after those 10 seconds. In other words. Because you did not
click on the FINISH button within those 10 seconds. Or put another way. You are not allowed to go to the toilet, slurp your coffee or accidently drop
your headphones whereby it takes 20 seconds to pick them up again! Anyway. If you can hear the sound click on the FINISH button and just ignore the
advice message.
In the next section (part two) I will be showing you how to communicate with another computer/person using Yahoo Messenger, a WebCam and a Headset
(Microphone and Headphones). Therefore allowing you to see and talk to the other person.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
