Patent ID: 7634531

Claim:
A method of providing one-way video transmission and corresponding interactive audio communication to remote recipients accessing a computer network, the method comprising the steps of: a) creating at a video source location a source digital video signal corresponding to a viewed scene; b) broadcast transmitting the source digital video signal at substantially the same time the source digital video signal is created, wherein the source digital video signal is transmitted through a one-way transmission channel for carrying a signal with only video content to at least one remote recipient via a network connection, wherein said at least one remote recipient accesses the video content using a first graphical user interface to play the video content; c) transmitting, in a channel separate from the transmission channel for video content, a source digital audio signal created at a audio source location and corresponding to the source digital video signal to a remote hosting site over a network connection via a VoIP protocol, wherein the source digital audio signal is transmitted on a channel separate from the one-way transmission channel, wherein the one-way transmission channel carrying the source digital video signal is not handled by the remote hosting site, and wherein the at least one remote recipient accesses the remote hosting site using a second graphical user interface to access the source digital audio signal without the source digital video signal, wherein the first and second graphical user interfaces are integrated in a single graphical user interface by the at least one remote recipient; and d) transmitting a recipient audio signal created at a recipient location and responsive to the source audio signal or the source video signal, wherein the recipient audio signal is transmitted from the recipient location to the remote hosting site via a network connection, wherein the remote hosting site provides necessary speed and bandwidth required for audio communication but not video communication via the one-way channel.