AUDIO-VIDEO CONFERENCE SYSTEM WITH PARALLEL NETWORKS

摘要

An apparatus for communicating video frames from a source (102) having a video input means (110) to a destination (202) having a visual display unit (204) during the course of a telephone conversation comprises: first and second telephones (122, 222) connectable to a telephone network (8); an audio-video service provider (6) that can communicate over the network (8) with both telephones along first and second communication paths (130, 230); first and second computers (102, 262) in proximity with respective telephones (122, 222), at least one of the computers having a video input means (110) and each computer having a data input means (106, 206), a visual display unit (104, 204), and communication means so that the computers can connect to the service provider respectively along third and fourth communication paths (116, 216). A first user can use the first computer communication means to make a first connection to the service provider (6). The service provider or first user then initiates a telephone call from the first to the second telephones (122, 222) via the service provider (6) and the first and second communication paths (130, 230). A second user can then use the second computer communication means to make a second connection to the service provider (6). Caller-id data is communicated between each of the first and second users and the service provider (6) so that the service provider can correlate both the call and the first and second connections with each other. At least one video image is uploaded from the video input means (110) to the service provider (6), and then downloaded to one of the computers.