SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TELECONFERENCING ON AN INTERNETWORK COMPRISING CONNECTION-ORIENTED AND CONNECTIONLESS NETWORKS

摘要

A system and method for teleconferencing between conferees connected through a connectionless network and conferees connected through a connectio n-oriented network having a bridge. A call server connects to a bridge hosting a teleconference among connection-oriented conferees and joins the teleconfere nce.The connection-oriented signal received by the call server is converted into a connectionless signal and sent to authorized, authenticated conferees connec ted through the connectionless network. The call server receives a connectionles s signal from a conferee through the connectionless network, converts the signals to a connection-oriented signal and sends the connection-oriented signal to the b ridge. Connectionless signals are stored in a database to be analyzed or sent to ot her conferees, such as those who were unavailable to join the teleconference as it occurred. The call server provides multimedia interfaces to conferee by whic h the conferees can monitor and join an ongoing teleconference, access a stored teleconference, or configure a new teleconference. The call server can also bridge teleconferences hosted on two or more bridges, expanding the audience for a given teleconference beyond the capacity of a single bridge.