Mary's video calling story

Mary's situation

Mary has retired and moved up the coast, away from her family. She has regular phone calls with her children, but she misses seeing how her grandkids are growing up, or how the house looks after their renovation, or her daughter's new haircut.

Her daughter introduced her to Skype - a free voice and video calling program she uses on her laptop.

The weekly video call

Every week, Mary schedules a video call with her children using her home internet and Skype on her computer. As they chat together, the camera and microphone that are built into Mary’s computer allow her children to see and hear her.

The camera and microphone in her children's computer allow Mary to see and hear them too.

What happens during a call

Being able to see her kids lets Mary enjoy catching up with them in a way that she couldn't if it were just a normal telephone call.

Mary's children often bring her grandkids in on the video call, so she can see and talk to them too.

Call times

The call itself can go on as long as Mary and her family want. The call doesn't cost anything, and there's no limit to the talk time.

Mary even sometimes goes to make a cup of tea while the video call is still going on, then comes back to the call with her tea. She loves how relaxed it all is.

Talking to several people at once

Mary can even call several people at once. She can have a full family conference, even though her children all live in different cities. Each person appears in a separate box on her computer screen.

Congratulations!

You've reach the end of Mary's video calling story activity.

You can see how video calling means that Mary is enjoying keeping in touch with her family, even though they live far away.

In the following activities, we'll show you how you can use video calling to keep in touch with your family and friends.