Patent ID: 7457843

Claim:
An image-taking control apparatus for transmitting an image taken by an image-taking device to a communication terminal via the Internet, comprising: a settings memory for storing a preset address of a communication terminal, activation conditions for a function of a Web server for conducting communication with the communication terminal, and termination conditions for a function of the Web server; a control device for, when the activation conditions are satisfied, activating the function of the Web server for conducting communication with the communication terminal, and creating contents of a first electronic mail which contains a message notifying a receiving party that the function of the Web server has been activated and a URL for accessing the image-taking control apparatus and which is for transmission to the address of the communication terminal, transmitting a live image taken by the image-taking device to the communication terminal on condition that it is recognized that the communication terminal accesses the image-taking control apparatus through the function of the Web server, and, on condition that the termination conditions are satisfied, terminating the function of the Web server and creating contents of a second electronic mail which contains a message notifying a receiving party that the function of the Web server has been terminated and which is for transmission to the address of the communication terminal; and a communication device for transmitting the first electronic mail in response to activation of the function of the Web server, transmitting a live image taken by the image-taking device to the communication terminal via the Internet in response to an access by the communication terminal, and transmitting the second electronic mail in response to termination of the function of the Web server.