THIS INVENTION relates to electronic mail. In particular, the invention relates to a method of creating an electronic mail message, to an electronic mailing system to a set of computer executable instructions, and to a carrier containing a set of computer executable instructions.

According to the invention, there is provided a method of creating an electronic mail message, the method including feeding at least one of a continuous audio- and video data stream originating from an audio/video source into a data compression algorithm for creating at least one compressed audio/video data stream; selectively recording at least a portion of the compressed audio/video data stream to create a recorded portion; and automatically attaching the recorded portion of the compressed audio/video data stream to an electronic mail message.

The continuous audio- and video data stream may be fed into a data compression algorithm in real time.

The method may include selecting at least one of an audio data stream and a video data stream originating from a number of audio/video data sources. For example, on a computer on which a number of audio/video data sources are installed, one audio and one video data source, such as a microphone and a video camera may be selected.

The continuous audio/video data stream may be fed into a data compression algorithm which includes a coding/decoding algorithm known in the trade as a codec algorithm, such as a "Microsoft Windows Media 9 codec", or the like.

The method may include monitoring of the data stream by a user to permit selection of an appropriate portion of the data stream to be recorded. The data stream may be monitored by at least one of: reproducing sound created from the audio data stream, and displaying images created from the video data stream, prior to recording the audio/video. For example, the sound may be reproduced on a loudspeaker attached to the computer and the images may be displayed on a display screen of the computer.

Selectively recording the compressed audio/video data stream may thus include receiving an instruction from a user to record a portion of the data stream and, in response, to activate recording of the data, thereby to create the recorded portion of the data stream.

Recording the compressed audio/video data may further include creating a file in which the compressed data may be stored.

Attaching the recorded data to an electronic mail message may also include creating a new electronic mail message and attaching the file to the newly created electronic mail message.

The invention extends to an electronic mailing system, which includes a data compression algorithm, operable to receive and compress at least one of a continuous audio- and video data stream and to produce at least one compressed data stream; a recorder for selectively recording at least a portion of the compressed data stream; and an electronic mail activator, operable to activate an electronic mail application when the recording facility terminates recording of the portion of the compressed data stream.

The data compression algorithm may be operable to receive and compress the continuous audio/video data stream and to produce at least one compressed data stream, in real time.

The data compression algorithm may include a coding/decoding algorithm known in the trade as a codec algorithm, such as a "Microsoft Windows Media 9 codec", or the like.

The inventions extends also to a set of computer executable instructions, operable, when executed on a computer, to direct the computer to feed an audio/video data stream into a data compression algorithm for creating at least one compressed audio/video data stream; record at least a selected portion of the compressed audio/video data stream; and attach the recorded portion of the compressed audio/video data stream automatically to an electronic mail message.

The set of computer executable instructions may be operable, when executed on a computer, to direct the computer to feed an audio/video data stream into the data compression algorithm for creating at least one compressed audio/video data stream, in real time.

The instructions may be arranged to interface directly with an electronic mail application, such as a software plug-in. The computer executable instructions may then be capable of being activated by the electronic mail application. For example, the set of computer executable instructions may interface directly to an existing e-mail application available in the trade, such as Microsoft Outlook, Groupwise, or the like.

The set of computer executable instructions may, when executed, display a graphic symbol in the form of a button on the screen of a computer which, when selected, may activate the monitoring of the selected audio/video data stream.

The set of computer executable instructions may, when executed display a button permitting a user to start recording of the compressed data stream selectively at a particular time. Similarly the set of computer executable instructions may, when executed, also display a button permitting a user to stop recording of the data stream and thereafter to store the recorded data in a file.

The invention extends also to a carrier containing a set of computer executable instructions as described herein.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to Figure 1 which shows a schematic flow diagram in which the execution of a set of computer executable instructions, in accordance with the invention, is shown.

In Figure 1 , reference numeral 10 generally refers to a set of computer executable instructions in the form of a software plug-in. In this example the plug-in has been installed in a previously installed Microsoft Outlook electronic mail (e-mail) program for execution by a computer. The plug-in displays a graphic symbol in the form of a button which displays the word "V-Mail", an acronym for Video Mail.

When the "V-Mail" button is selected, the plug-in starts execution at 12, at which it is established which audio/video components have been installed on the computer (not shown).

At 14 it is determined if an audio source and a video source have previously been selected. If not, all the audio/video input devices available and identified at 12 are displayed, and at 16 a user is prompted to select one audio source, such as a microphone, and one video source, such as a video camera from which to receive the audio/video data streams. At 18 the input devices are selected by the user. It is to be appreciated, that in more sophisticated examples, more than one audio and video source may possibly be selected for combination.

Once selected, the audio/video sources are initialised at 20. If input devices have previously been selected and initialised, execution is diverted from 14 to 20, where the input devices are initialized. At 22 a graphic display is activated. The graphic display displays the following information in the form of a video preview screen on which the video can be monitored: A screen which displays images created in real time, from the selected video data stream; A "Start Recording" button, permitting a user to start recording of the audio/video data streams; A "Stop Recording" button, permitting a user to stop recording of the audio/video data streams; An "Audio Volume" button, permitting a user selectively to adjust the volume of the received audio data stream; and A "Quit" button, permitting a userto quitthe receiving of the audio/video data streams.

The buttons displayed on the preview screen are continuously monitored at 16, to detect when a button is selected. If the "Start Recording" button is pressed at 24 the audio data stream originating from the selected audio source is fed to an audio compression algorithm at 26 and the video data stream originating from the selected video source is fed to a video compression algorithm at 28.

At 30 the audio is compressed with a compression algorithm known in the trade as a "Windows Media Audio 9 codec", and at 32 the video data stream is compressed with a compression algorithm known in the trade as a "Windows Media Video 9 codec".

Both the Windows Media Audio 9 codec and the Windows Media Video 9 codec are available in the trade as the Windows Media 9 codec.

At 34 the compressed audio/video data are combined and stored in a file on the hard disk drive of the computer, in real time. If the user selects the "Stop Recording" button at 36, the plug-in causes the Microsoft Outlook mailing program to create a new e-mail message at 38, and at 40 attaches the file stored at 34 to the new e-mail message.

If the plug-in has been activated and is displaying the preview screen at 22, the execution of the plug-in can be terminated at 42 by a user selecting the "Quit" button. This will cause the preview screen displayed at 22 to be closed and will save the current settings of the plug-in.

The inventor believes that the invention, as illustrated, provides a new method of creating an e-mail message, a new e-mail system and a new set of executable instructions which, when executed on a computer, provides a more efficient way of creating an e-mail containing an audio/video message.

An advantage of the invention as illustrated is that, where the quality of real time audio/video communication is dependent on the bandwidth of the communication channel that is used for transmission of the audio/video, the quality of a pre-recorded message is not dependent on the bandwidth of the communication channel used for transmission, because transmission does nottake place in real time. The quality of the pre-recorded audio/video is therefore of an acceptable standard, and although an e-mail message does not provide real time audio/video, a receiving or transmitting user has the option to listen to messages and watch the associated video, when convenient. The inventor therefore believes that the invention, as illustrated may also provide a viable alternative to real time video conferencing.