5. Gmail: Use Chat and Video to Talk to Contacts — Launch Text Chats and Video Calls

In this video, you will learn how to use Hangouts within Gmail to chat and make video calls to contacts.

Chat allows you to type messages in real time to contacts, and video lets you see and hear the other person while you speak to them.

Both features are convenient ways to communicate with anyone from work colleagues to friends and family.

You will: Set options for chat, Launch a chat with a contact, And launch a video call with a contact.

Set options for your chat by clicking on the arrow next to your name and avatar.

An avatar is a picture representation of yourself.

Select the options you’d like to use, such as showing when you were last active, making sounds to notify you when you receive an incoming message, or blocking contacts you don’t want to receive messages from.

To launch a new chat, first open a chat window.

Then select a contact. If you’ve never chatted with your contact before, type in their name or email address in the box at the top to find them.

If your contact is online and available, a green dot will appear next to their name.

Then, type what you would like to say to your contact in the chat window.

If you would like to see your contact and speak to him or her using a microphone, launch a video call from the chat window.

Be sure that your microphone and camera are both on so that the other person can hear and see you.

You can use video calls for many different purposes, such as asking a colleague a quick question or having a longer meeting with your boss.

In the next video, you will learn all the ways to manage your inbox so you can keep yourself as organized as possible.

Now, it’s your turn: Set options for chat, Launch a chat with a contact, And launch a video call from the chat window.