I have my own domain and hosting package for my online business, I am thinking of doing this to keep intouch with family over seas, and will be a better connection than instant messengers video chat, no lagging. I have a online business, so I figured I can use that hosting pkg and domain and make a password protected page.
Lag is going to be an issue of the quality of the internet connection quality of the participants regardless of which service you use (Faster=better). Latency will also be a factor because of the "distance" it has to be processed for all of the members in the video call.
If you’re looking for a video chat API, the company I used to work for (Tokbox) does have one available. If you’re just using it to chat with friends and family, however, it seems like a little overkill.
You will always get lagging no matter what you use.
Why not use Skype with a webcam? Skype to Skype is free. Can have Video chat or Video to IM chat, etc.. All free.
Ron