Yahoo! Messenger Tutorials

Personalizing Your IM Conversations

Customizing Message Text Using Emoticons Using Audibles Using Buzz

Using Buzz

Buzz is a feature that lets you get a contact's attention through their IM window. As the word implies, when you buzz someone, you are sending a short, not-so-quiet sound to their IM window (if sound is enabled on their computer). Yahoo! Messenger uses a doorbell sound by default and even shakes the IM window. You can choose another sound to hear when someone buzzes you, and you can enable a few other buzz features.

When you buzz a contact, "Buzz!!!" displays as a message line in the conversation area of your and your contact's IM windows. You and your contact can hear it and see it, depending on each of your settings.

This task shows you how to:

 

Here's How

    To enable buzz:

    1. Open the Yahoo! Messenger Preferences window. (Remind me how.)

    2. On the left side of the window, select the Alerts & Sounds category.

      3. Select the Alerts & Sounds category.

    3. On the right side of the window, check Enable alert sounds.

      Under Alert me when, select A Messenger contact buzzes me.

      4. Enable alert sounds, then select Alert me when a Messenger contact buzzes me.

    4. In the area below the list, check the actions you would like Yahoo! Messenger to take when someone buzzes you.

      Check desired options.

      5. Tip: To change the buzz sound, click the Browse button Browse button and select from the list of available sounds. To hear the displayed sound, click the Play button Play button. This is the sound you hear when someone buzzes you. It is not necessarily the sound your contacts hear when you buzz them.

    5. Click the OK button.

      6. Tip: To disable buzz, follow the steps above, but uncheck all options. If someone buzzes you, you will still see the "Buzz!!!" message line in the conversation area of your IM window.

    To buzz a contact:

    1. In your IM window, click the buzz icon.

      2. Click the Buzz icon.

      Contacts who have enabled buzz not only see the word "Buzz!!!" in their IM windows, they also experience the options they selected for the alert.

 

What's Next

Sending emoticons and Audibles to your contacts provides another creative dimension to instant messaging...and it's fun. If you really want someone's attention, you can always buzz them.

 

Words to Know

  • Audible: an animated character inserted in an instant message that says something out loud to your contact after you send your message, such as "Welcome" or "Dude!"
  • Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email or instant message.
  • Emoticon: a small character that shows someone how you feel during an IM conversation, such as happy Happy emoticon, sad Sad emoticon, or laughing Laughing emoticon.
  • IM: the acronym for instant message.