How would I include a PC and Mac compatible peer-to-peer,
multiple-user videochat directory feature on my site?

Greetings,

We are interested in adding a peer to peer / webcam directory chat
feature to our website’s members-only password protected area.

To clarify, we would like to offer the ability for a member to select
and video/chat directly with another member.  (Our site acting as a
central, secure and private directory)

In contrast, we do not intend to host or disseminate a single-feed to
many viewers.

Participants will login to password-protected area. The verification
method is already in place.

We roughly estimate user participation between 1000 - 5000 members
using a variety of PC & Mac operating systems.

The feature is intended for webcam equipped members rather than
lurkers.  An active video connection prompt would be very useful in
our layout plans.

Ideally, we are considering a self-managed, turnkey, all-in-one
package that we can apply to our servers and assume administrative
operation and have the peer-to-peer users absorb the bandwidth
expenses.

We've built our site and servers based on Linux and but can
accommodate Windows if required.

Based on preliminary software and product searches, there appears to
be an abundance of webcam viewers geared for the user however I have
not been able to find a product that will help me build a directory
that will consolidate and display multiple webcams.

Being admittedly unfamiliar with the products and solutions available,
I welcome your recommendations, suggestions and procedures along with
associated pricing information.

(Would CU-See-Me be the preferred viewer?)

Thank you and looking forward…

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Request for Question Clarification by xemion-ga on 03 Jun 2002 09:12 PDT

Hello, I'm using clarification instead of comment to get your
attention (I'm not sure it notifies you if I just comment on your
question).  Your question has gone without answer for a week now. 
This generally means that no one can find the answer.  My
recommendation to you is that you post this as a project on a website
like Elance.com and see what results you get.  I'm pretty sure that
this will have to hire a programmer to get the results you want.

http://www.elance.com

I can find you other websites similiar to Elance in nature, but that's
outside the scope of this question.  If you would accept other
websites as an answer to this question, I'd be glad to look them up
for you.  Thanks.

xemion-ga

I did some research on this topic and could not come up with a good
answer for you.  I don't think there is a service available that fits
your description. Maybe someone else can find something I didn't
though.

I would just like to note that I don't think CU-See-Me would fit your
needs.  I know you had specifically mentioned that product.

Thanks for using Google Answers!

xemion-ga

Multi-platform and easy-to-use, but not P2P : FlashMX client side and
ColdFusionMX server side. http://www.macromedia.com
P2P, but not customizable : open your own iVisit directory, but you
wont have any control over the network/application.
http://www.ivisit.com
You would be probably better off programming your own application,
using QuickTime and RealBasic (a very good Rapid Application
Developpement tool, http://www.realbasic.com ) and querying your
server via XML-RPC or SOAP. Good Luck !

http://www.microsoft.com get NETMEETING!  Run a netmeeting server...
Each call is direct p2p, all the server does is be a directory. 
That's what you want.  (And why view multiple webcams at once?
Planning on webcam orgy! LOL)

Why don't you build your own using the following software:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/chatforte

Regards
ldavinci-ga