Today anyone with a webcam can quickly
and easily create and send video messages for free. You don't have
to record videos with expensive equipment, and you don't have to
download software. Best of all no expertise is required. If you can
create and send text email you can send video mail.
Most people believe that sending videos
means recording very large files with a camcorder, and trying to
attach it to an email. It usually doesn't work due to email file
attachment size limits. mailVU.com is one solution that doesn't
require camcorders or file attachments. They have
a free video mail service that doesn't require a software
download, and it doesn't require a user account. I tried it and put together this
step-by-step process for creating your first video mail.
What do you need for video mail?
- Computer (PC, MAC, Linux all work)
- Webcam
- Microphone, either built-in to
your webcam or laptop, or external headset
- Broadband Internet connection
Begin by opening any browser (Internet
Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and going to
http://mailVU.com.
You will be prompted by the following request to allow access to
your webcam.
Select Allow.
Now you should be able to see yourself
on the left side under Live Camera. If you don't see yourself click
on the drop down list of cameras and select the one that works for
you. On the Mac it is typically called USB Webcam. Note that until
you record a message the deletion options and email option is grayed
out at the bottom of the screen.
Click the red Record button
above your image to start the 1 minute recording session. This
button will change to Stop after you click it, a notification will
appear that recording is in process, and a timer counts down from 1
minute.
When done click the red Stop button.
Now that the recording is made the
information at the bottom of the screen is available to use. You
may play back your message before sending it to someone.
To play
it back simply click the green Play button above your image.
Your recording will now play in the right side window while you still
see yourself live in the left side Live Camera window.
If you want to record over your
message,
click the red Record button again to overwrite it.
When you are happy with your recording decide if you want to use an
auto deletion function at the bottom.
The default deletion time frame is 30
days, but you can change it to anything between 1 and 30 days. And
you could also specify the video to be deleted after a certain number
of views. If both are checked then
whichever event happens first
will destruct the video mail.
You can now click
Send this as a
Video Mail and you will have the following screen to populate:
You fill in the email address fields,
and you have the option of adding a text message to your video mail.
You can copy yourself if you click the box at the bottom.
When
done click Send Email. Congratulations! You have now sent your
first video mail!
The user will receive an email which is
less than 25kb in size that includes a picture of you linking to your
video message. They click on your picture and click play and they
will be able to hear and see you. To record a video message back to
you they can follow this same process.
By using this process anyone can quickly
and easily send video messages to anyone in the world.
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