Now you can send an audio or video message just as easily as sending a text email.
Videomail allows you to record audio and video content to a streaming server.
A link is then automatically placed in the email that directs the recipient to a
webpage to initiate the audio and/or video stream playback. Email inboxes are never
overloaded by large audio or video file attachments because there are none! Audio and
video messages simply "stream" across the Internet from streaming servers. A broadband
connection is recommended for recording and playback. Use of dialup connection,
wireless routers or other connectivity options may impact recording and playback quality.
Videomail is supported on computers running Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista and MacIntosh OS X
Operating systems. Adobe FlashPlayer 9.0 (www.adobe.com) or later must be installed and
Java Script must be enabled in your Web Browser options for recording and playback of
audio and video files. There may be additional charges for using this service and it
may be necessary to contact Customer Service to enable this feature.
Videomail is made available to you via the Webmail Interface (see below). When composing
a message in Webmail, you can record an audio or video message by selecting the Add Video
button. A microphone and camera are required to record audio and video messages,
respectively. It is possible to send audio only or video only messages if you do not have
both a microphone and camera available.
A portion of the Webmail interface is shown below:
Enter the Webmail interface in order to record Videomail. The first step is to create
a new email with a recipient email address, a subject, and a body of text. Once the
email is created, you can insert video messages into the email by selecting the Add
Video button, launching the recorder window shown below. The first time you attempt
to add video, you will be asked to review and accept an End User License Agreement.
Once this agreement is accepted, the following screens may also appear.
You may experience difficulties with video recording if you do not have the correct
device driver associated with the built in or external camera. Follow the instructions
in the panel on the left below to associate the correct driver with your
camera hardware. You must left click your mouse once in this panel to activate
the controls, then right click for the settings panel.
The video recorder panel may ask for access to your camera and microphone as shown
above on the right. The user may select Allow or Deny and can also right click on
this panel to bring up the settings option and tell the application to remember to
allow this access as shown below:
Click on the Record button to record a message; and click on the Stop button when you
have finished recording. You will then be asked to review the video, save the video,
or start over as shown below. If you click on the save button, then the recorder
window will close and the link to the video will be placed in the email. Start over
will discard and begin re-recording the video. If you select Exit, the recorder
window will be closed and the video will not be saved.
Performance Recommendations
It is recommended that you have only one browser window open to minimize conflicts
with the recorder. You should not be running the computer’s CD player, MP3 player,
or other audio or video software before starting the Video Mail recorder. If you have
only a microphone (many PC’s today have built-in microphones), the recording page
will record an audio only message that can be reviewed or saved just like a video
mail recording. You may need to click the mouse inside the Recorder and Playback
panels once to activate the controls.
Depending on your connection to the Internet, you may experience problems transmitting
or uploading messages.
The items listed below could cause transmission problems.
If using a modem, you should disable Call Waiting. If Call Waiting is NOT disabled, you may experience an error in sending if Call Waiting tones are received during transmission.
If the Internet connection has been disconnected, this will cause an error while transmitting your message. This may occur due to inactivity with your Web browser.
A valid email address in the "To:" field is required. You should not terminate your Internet connection until you receive a confirmation that your message has been sent or video links may not be properly sent to the recipient.
Receiving Videomail
When others receive a Videomail, they will see a Web link URL similar to this:
(http://fms.domain.vd...., where "domain" is your main domain name) embedded in the
body of the email for playing back audio or video via their Web Browser. They either
click on this link or copy and paste the link into their Web Browser and hit Enter
to initiate the audio/video stream. There will be a brief delay while the computer
gets ready and the message is sent across the Internet, then the playback window
below will be displayed.
Users can control the volume setting, Play/Pause the playback, Restart the video or
Auto Hide the menu in order to view the full video. By selecting the Auto Hide box
and moving the cursor outside the window, this menu will hide and return when the
cursor is returned within the window.
