Patent ID: 8832299

Claim:
A method for transmitting time-based media across a network, comprising: receiving from a sending user a message including time-based media intended for a recipient, the message addressed to the recipient using an email address identifying the recipient within a domain; relying on a first DNS lookup result of the email address associated with the recipient to determine if the domain of the recipient provides a near real-time communication service and to ascertain a first delivery route to deliver the time-based media of the message to the domain of the recipient using a near real-time communication protocol; and either: if the first lookup result is positive, progressively transmitting over the network the time-based media of the message as the time-based media is created using the first delivery route ascertained by the first DNS lookup result and using the near real-time communication protocol; or if the first DNS lookup result is negative, relying on a second DNS lookup result of the email address associated with the recipient to determine if the domain of the recipient provides an email service for the email address and ascertaining an email delivery route to deliver an email to the recipient; and if the second DNS lookup result is positive, further: encapsulating the time-based media associated with the message into a file; attaching the file to an email after the time-based media associated with the message is complete; and transmitting the email with the attachment to the recipient using the email delivery route defined by the second lookup.