Have used VSee for fresh "real" interactions in the last month under typical non-intense-user scenarios (board meetings etc -- where users are NOT using the software every day).

Some things to report (based on current version 9.0.0.416):

* If VSee fires up with no webcam present, it now pops up a box about "VSee will ask you to select video resolution". But it never asks. It just pops up this dialog box every time my computer starts.

* (I think this is a known issue) if one person drops out of a meeting and reconnects, all video windows are reset to default size and location. Distracting.

* Overall: we're having a much harder time creating and sustaining audo/video connections than in the past.
- Most recently a three-party meeting. Two of the three were direct peer-to-peer, one on UDP relay. All on USA high speed 'net connects on a saturday morning with great connectivity. None of the links would stay up for long. We ended up going to audio teleconference to conduct the meeting, and let VSee continue to try to stay connected. Video links were present ~25% of the time during the two hour meeting. Are there diagnostics I can collect to assist you? This version is not something I can recommend to others :( ... bad timing I know.

* [Background feedback: I'm getting consistent complaints about lack of good echo-cancellation. Looking forward to you finding a solution before long. ]

Blessings,
Pete

Hey Pete.

While I cannot help you on the other issues you've experienced (beyond stating the obvious that commodity internet is a capricious little minx) I will say that the best software-based AEC won't come close to good ol' fashioned headsets or (although pricier) a hardware-AEC speaker/phone device like what the folks at Phoenix Audio http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BL28M6/wwwvseecom-20 make in their Duet PCS. (I have 2 and swear by them; although - in retrospect - I wish I got the Duet Executive or better still, the Quattro MT-305.)

One additionally note as to speech CODECs and overall speech quality....although it doesn't sound as good as the high-quality audio (SpeeX) I find that the lower-end audio setting is more stable. I suspect that DSP TrueSpeech has better packet-loss concealment or by virtue of its lower bit-rate requirements tax the connection less. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see VSee include Xiph's CELT or Skype's SILK speech CODEC - but only if it doesn't detract from the overall design mandate to maintain perceived lip-sync of all attendees.

Hope that was a bit helpful; didn't mean to hijack your post.

=R

Some competitors actually do incredibly good AEC. Tried S* lately? Admittedly one-on-one is MUCH easier than multiparty, but the AEC bar has been reset pretty high.

As for capricious Internet, I suppose I should have been explicit about something not obvious to other users (maybe this should go in my sig file ;)) : we are long-time testers and users of VSee, very excited about its potential and reality. Some versions have proven more stable than others from a usability and connection standpoint. We test on both high and low quality internet connections worldwide.

The current version is much improved in many ways... unfortunately connection stability appears to have gone downhill a bit.

I have to second the vote of confidence in the Phoneix units (we use all of the different models, in about a dozen locations worldwide). It's a small price to pay for being completely software-independent - everything (VSee included) just works with zero echo...

Yeah, I don't doubt that there is good software-based AEC out there; I occasionally use Skype-to-Skype with some folks (I'm using the April 22 release of 4.0.0.226 for Windows) I still use my trusty Duet which has it's own AEC; so I cannot speak to Skype's AEC code - their audio CODEC (SILK) is very nice - but its bandwidth is wasted on my device (SILK is 70 Hz - 12 KHz; my Duet only spans 20 Hz - 7.5 KHz; my Plantronics, .400 DSP headset does 100 Hz - 10 KHz).

I've used VSee for a while too; I think I've tested each version - but the longest I've connected with anyone was only a couple of hours in duration. Usually I am chatting for 15-20 minutes and I've not lost someone (when neither of us had network issues.)

I would suspect that paying customers have access to VSee's issue tracking reports (we use Jira where I work) it would be interesting to know if this is a known but new problem with this release.

Phoenix is a good suggestion for many use scenarios. We'll take a look at it for those cases... THANKS MUCH! It's a great hint.

At the same time, for us that's a marginal use case. We mostly work with indigenous NGO's around the world; perhaps a customer base beyond VSee's core, yet at the same time a very realistic situation.

We cannot assume casual user groups will be happy about US$100+ extra hardware, nor about carrying said hardware with them wherever they go in the world. Nor is it easy to convince users in Zimbabwe, Uganda, BIhar India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc etc etc to find quality AEC hardware ;)

Mobile, casual, international users: all are excited by simple technology that Just Works.

OH -- updated details on my report (I happen to have just pulled my laptop out of sleep mode...)

The every-time-VSee-launches-with-no-webcam popup shows this text:

VSee: your action is needed
a dialog box will appear to allow you to set the desired video size
[OK]

Blessings,
pete