Facebook Video Chat is a third party plugin for Facebook that allows you to video and audio chat via Facebook.

An alternative with extra features?

Video and audio chatting are now possible in Facebook thanks to Skype integration and Facebook Video Chat simply offers an alternative way of doing it. It adds 4 extra icons to your Facebook chat dialog window - a webcam, a microphone, a games icon and a smiley.

Nothing really new

The installation of Facebook Video Chat is a bit suspicious however. It tries to install the Babylon toolbar, make Babylon your default webpage and make it your default search engine. However, even if you deselect the check boxes, it still places a Babylon installer on your desktop although doesn't appear to install any of the components.

When you've finished installation, your browser will open automatically with a message of congratulations telling you to log into Facebook. If you're using Firefox, Facebook Video Chat also requires installing an add-on which it does automatically although this requires re-starting your browser afterwards.

To start a video chat using Facebook Video Chat, just open a conversation window with a contact and click on the webcam icon. A message will be sent to the recipient asking them to initiate a webchat. Obviously, this requires them to have a webcam or a speaker installed if you want to start an audio conversation.

The games icon prompts you to start a number of basic board games when clicked on such as chess, darts or snooker. Finally, the smiley icon simply sends a smiley to the recipient - not exactly sophisticated.

In case of troubles, why not?

Facebook Video Chat isn't really necessary now that Skype is integrated with Facebook but if you're really having troubles with Facebook's integrated video and audio chat, it may be worth a try.