Because this issue has come up a couple of times this month in the Yahoo_Messenger Yahoo Group, I thought I would compile the questions and answers here for future ready reference.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Video and Voice Call issues
Anyone having problems making Video or Voice calls with Y! Messenger 10 (10.0.0.1270-us) When I first installed it, it worked fine but now when I press Video call or voice call it shows that it is initializing the call but it does not ring and the person I am calling does not receive the notification of the incoming call.
First time I had this issue I re-installed and it fixed it but second time around it did not do the trick.
I am hoping someone else is experiencing the same issue and has been able to find a work-around/solution to the problem.
My first reply:
-----Original Message-----
From: Lenny The Computer Guy
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Video and Voice Call issues
I've used it with no problems... but I don't use it often and haven't used it in the past few days. I'm testing it from one computer to another right now.
(key up Jeopardy music)
OK... clicking the Camera Icon on an open IM window did NOT work and acted as you indicated but this is not how I usually use Video and Voice. I activate them separately in most cases.
Hmmmmm... I just tried just a Voice Call to my other ID on another computer and that didn't work either.
Next, I turned on my Camera manually by going to the main Messenger Menu, then clicked "My Webcam" which did activate my cam. I then sent a Cam Invite to my other ID by clicking the Actions>More Actions menu on the separate IM window and that did send an invite and I was able to accept the invite on the other computer. But trying to initiate a Voice call, computer to computer, from either computer to the other FAILED.
Note that I have 10.x.1270 on one computer and 10.x.1267 on the other computer so it's not just limited to .1270... or possibly it is.
I'm going to fire up YM 9.x on my third computer and check it with the other two.
(key up Jeopardy music again)
Yep... it seems Yahoo is having major problems with Voice mainly as I was able to initiate Cam invites with each computer but couldn't get Voice to work at all.
If you look on your Help Menu, click Report A Problem To Yahoo and fill out the report. I am also going to on all three of my computers with different ID's.
More than likely, it's just Yahoo being Yahoo with their constant need to improve their servers... and yet never doing it as well as they should.
They have been reporting that they are improving their servers for as long as I can remember and any time there is a problem, they say they are improving their servers.
I'm SOOOOOOOO glad that I could not go through with buying a Yahoo Phone In/Out phone number last year when I tried. I had gone through the process, picked a number, went all the way to the check-out process, entered my credit card info and tried to process the order but that wouldn't go through. After trying to get someone from the Phone In/Out service to contact me for a few days to get my order processed and it didn't work, I gave up and got a Skype phone number... which works fine.
I also use MagicJack on my desktop computer... which works fine... but better yet, Google's Gmail accounts now include a Google Voice option so you can make unlimited incoming and outgoing phone calls in the USA and Canada and video/voice calls to other computers anywhere. They had a few glitches the first day that the unlimited FREE calls went online but every time I've tested it since, it has worked fine.
I wish Yahoo Messenger's other features worked fine all the time as I would like to be able to rely on YM but over the past 10 years, I've just seen too many times that it's not working properly often enough to rely on it alone. I guess the old saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" holds true for YM.
Now, for basic IM'ing, YM still is the most popular IM program for me. While Skype works great for phone calls, voice and video calls... IM'ing someone on Skype is not an easy process. There's no way to just type in someone's Skype ID and initiate an IM session with them without adding them.. or trying to add them and then they can initiate an IM session with you without them actually adding you. Yes, I've notified Skype of this flaw... or lack of feature.
If you NEED to use these features, you could try doing a clean installation of YM according to my blog article (see sig) and see if that works but I suspect this is just a Yahoo server issue since it's not working on any of my computer with three different versions. Because of YM's inherent bugs, I ALWAYS do a full and clean uninstall before doing a full and clean install... just to make sure that any left over remnants of the older or uninstalled version aren't left behind to muck things up for the new install.
Lenny Vasbinder
Their reply:
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Re: Video and Voice Call issues
So I decided to do another install again after I had made the post. After it finished I launced it. Tryied doing a Voice call first and it started to ring. So I canceled the call and initiated a Video Call and it too started ringing. I was able to video chat for about 5 hours afterwards with no issues.
Sidenote: I reported my problem to Yahoo after every attempt to make a video and voice call so hopefully whatever bug appear everytime I reported it in.
And my final reply:
-----Original Message-----
From: Lenny The Computer Guy
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: Video and Voice Call issues
It just worked for me also... without doing any uninstalling... which leads me to believe it was just another of the hundreds or thousands of issues that Yahoo have had with their servers over the years.
Eight out of 10 times, when YM is acting up, it's due to Yahoo Server issues. Signing out and signing back in will often fix things as you will likely get a different server but if you've tried that and are still having problems, then it's likely a dirty installation.
Glad yours is working again... and if you did a clean and full install, instead of the way Yahoo recommends, then you have an even better chance of things working well. Make sure you put a check mark in the box so you get an alert before Yahoo makes updates to your YM. That box is on the Messenger Menu>Preferences>Alerts & Sounds section.
Lenny Vasbinder
And now... a more recent issue...
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Problems with the invite to view my webcam in YM10 and Version 8
Hello can somebody help me, I have problems with chatting and using the webcam. On Yahoo!Mail I was online chatting with my friend, he asked me to send him an invitation to view my webcam. I tried to find the icon, but couldn't find it.
I did send a chat message to the Customer Care and they said : Regarding your concern, please be informed that viewing webcam using the Chat feature in Yahoo! Mail is currently not possible.
So what I did I installed the Version 10 of Yahoo! Messenger and thought everything will be fine and I can see my friend. I did read that Version 10 is compatible with the other Versions of Yahoo! But it seems not be the truth. I've got now 10 and he has 8. I did send him the invitation to view my webcam many times he accepts but it does not work at all.
He says the problem is with me I should fix it.
Can somebody help me to use this webcam? I tried to make Video and Voice Calls but its not working. I need to say that he is the only one I tried, because his the only contact I have, so I cannot try it with somebody else's.
I did read was Lenny The Computer Guy wrote on Tue Sep 7, 2010 11:40 am, on the Message #7412 Video and Voice Call issues and it was really interesting what he wrote down. I thought maybe he can help me or somebody else's.
Thanks a lot in advance for your help!
Alessandra
My first reply:
-----Original Message-----
From: "Lenny The Computer Guy" Vasbinder
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Problems with the invite to view my webcam in YM10 and Version 8
I'm guessing you have tried several times on several different occasions? Sometimes, Yahoo's servers will just be acting up and signing out and signing right back in will get you on a better server and things will work fine.
Have you run the Audio & Video Help Wizard on YM yet?
On the Help Menu>Set Up Video And Voice.. then go through the steps. Let us know what it says so take notes of what each step says and does.
Also, check to see which version you have of YM 10. On the same Help Menu, click About Yahoo Messenger and let us know the actual version, including the numbers behind the decimal points (or does everyone call them dots now? lol) I want to make sure he has the latest version of 8.1x and not 8.0x.
Tell him to also do the above and let us know his version and that his audio/video is working... does he also have a cam and can he send you an invite that connects?
I don't have 8.1x running on any of my computer any longer so I can't test them but as far as I know, 8.1x, 9.0x and 10.x are all supposed to be fully supported and compatible.
I had to peek at the group message 7412 to see what I had said... I'm guessing you've tried things that way also.. instead of just a all-in-one video/voice connection?
Your other option, as you saw in that message, if both of you have reasonably new/fast computers, is to use Skype but Skype does use a lot more system resources than YM.
Lenny Vasbinder
And another follow-up reply:
-----Original Message-----
From: "Lenny The Computer Guy" Vasbinder [mailto:lennythecomputerguy@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 2:49 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Problems with the invite to view my webcam in YM10 and Version 8
Here's the Yahoo Messenger Help pages for the issue and Yahoo also suggests checking and/or re-installing your webcam software.
Messenger Webcam Basics
http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?y=PROD_MSNG&page=content&id=SLN338
The difference between Video Calling and Webcam Sharing
http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?y=PROD_MSNG&page=content&id=DOC643
Use Video Calling to Avoid Webcam Errors
http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&y=PROD_MSNG&id=SLN264
Lenny Vasbinder
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I'll add more to this blog as it becomes available.
Lenny Vasbinder
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