Shirley Jerome's son, Sam, a corporal with the U.S. Marines, is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq right now, northwest of Baghdad.

The Dover resident was able to communicate with her 26-year-old son frequently via email during his first tour, but his second tour has him in a less-developed region where emailing is more difficult, and calling home is even harder.

So to be able to actually see him via streaming live video would be a godsend, she said.

That's what a New York-based company called Instantstream Multimedia Communications, Inc., is trying to do.

The company is providing free 24-hour, web-based video and conferencing services to U.S., U.N. and International military members to express the company's gratitude to the men and women of the armed services...