Site Targets People Dying To Watch

They taught me in journalism school not to bury the lead, so here goes...

Thanks to one Web site, you may never have to attend another funeral.

Until it's time for your own, that is.

A Canadian company has developed an online funeral service that allows friends and relatives far away to watch a funeral and burial. Most of the funerals aren't restricted to loved ones. Even the morbidly inclined can log on and watch.

Funeral-Cast.Com already has signed up 300 funeral homes in Canada and the United States, said Leo Burnaccioni, a founder of the company, based in Burlington, Ontario, a Toronto suburb.

A Pueblo, Colorado funeral home has already put five services on the Internet this month and has received positive responses.

"When we first began to let people know we could provide this service, I don't know if it was shock or amazement that we could do that over the Internet," said Gerry Montgomery, Montgomery & Steward Funeral Directors, Inc. "But there's been a positive reaction from families, once they understood how it works." The funeral home currently has two services on the Funeral-Cast.com "Current Broadcast Schedule."

The Internet linkup adds about $50 to the cost of a funeral, according to Burnaccioni. "Everyone who has come on board is using the product," Burnaccioni said.

Nor has a competing company emerged for the booming funeral-cast business. Instead of MTV, a competitor could call itself "Burial TV." (I checked. Somebody already has BTV.com so there goes my "I want my BTV!" ad campaign.)

Funeral-Cast.Com makes money by charging funeral homes for its camera kit plus a monthly fee.

More than 260,000 funerals have been viewed online in the first year of operation, Burnaccioni said. The company plans to offer "virtual visitation" by next January so that viewers can talk with mourners gathered at the casket. However, there have been no requests for a "casket cam."

To show respect for families in mourning Funeral-Cast.com has elected not to show images of the bodies of the deceased.

"It's a fixed camera looking at the speaker or the eulogist, with maybe a portion of the casket showing," Burchill said.

"Wow, this is such a great idea," wrote one funeral viewer on the company's Web site. "What a blessing for the families when they get all the responses back from friends and loved ones regarding the person who has passed away. This is especially beneficial for those who are living far away from the grieving people."

A "funeral-cast" can be made private so that access is limited only to mourners who receive a password issued by the funeral home. The service can be viewed as it is conducted or it can be kept online for viewing at a later date.

Within 10 years, "a high percentage" of funeral homes will offer Internet broadcasts as the technology becomes more sophisticated and the price comes down, said John Horan, a regional spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association.

Here's something that definitely requires planning ahead. The site has posted this notice: "If you would like to broadcast your memorial service or event please contact us by phone at: (905) 702-9329 or by email at admin@infinitedesign.org."

Still, funeral cams add a new dimension to the "live cam" aspect of the Internet. It's probably just a matter of time until someone comes up with a "Funeral Service of the Week" Web feature.

If you have a favorite Web site that you'd like to see reviewed, drop me a line. I'll read your e-mail just as soon as I finish looking at the Virual Picture Boards on the site.

Site reviewed: Funeral-Cast.com.