I have a small business.  There are 4 of us. We all work out of our
homes in different states.  We are trying to use internet video-voice
phone to connect each other. We all have pc cameras.  Using microsoft
messenger we have been able to exchange video and audio conversations,
but the size of the picture was rather small.  Microsoft netmeeting
was awkward and small.  Is there better internet phone software that
we could be running?  We all use microsoft xp, and all have cable
modem connections.

Greetings reedahoward,

When it comes to video conferencing using the Internet, there are a
multitude of choices out there. The two that you mentioned are a
couple of the more popular choices, mostly because they are provided
free of charge. However, other solutions do exist that may work better
for you and your associates. Let me list a few for you:

1. CUSeeMe (http://www.cuseemeworld.com/)
This software has been around for a very long time and has a very good
reputation in the video conferencing world. It has options for setting
the picture size/quality among other things. It has "Video Instant
Messaging" and the ability to group video chat with up to twelve
windows running simultaneously. It retails for $39.99 and first time
buyers get a 10% discount. They might also give discounts for
multi-user licenses. They offer a free trial download at their
website. I highly recommend checking out this software as is
consistently receives high marks from software reviewers and users
alike.

2. iSpQ VideoChat (http://www.ispq.com/ISPQ_moreinfo.html)
This package supports V-Mail, multi-person chat (up to 5-people
simultaneously), member profiles, video quick messages, offline
messaging and more. It looks like this software also supports much
larger video images than what NetMeeting and Messenger can do. This
software is also $39.95 and has a free trial download.

3. ICUII (http://www.icuii.com/)
They claim to be the number one video chat program in the world for
two years running. There isn't much info to be gathered online
regarding this product. Their website offers some basic details and
they too offer a free trial download. The retail product is $39.95.

In addition to these, here is a link to a website that lists about 17
different video conferencing software products and links to their
websites:
http://netconference.about.com/cs/winvcsoftware/

I hope this has given you some information to help answer your
question regarding alternate solutions to video conferencing outside
of NetMeeting and Messenger. In the end, it's really going to be which
one works best for your needs and which one has the feature-set you
like the most. I highly recommend downloading and trying out at least
the first 2 options listed above. Please let me know if I can be of
any further assistance on this question. Thanks!

Sincerely,
PWizard