A multi-endpoint video signal conferencing system, wherein video signals are scalably coded into layers including a base layer comprising information and a plurality of enhancement layers, the conferencing system comprising: a scalable video coding server (SVCS) linked to each of a plurality of receiving endpoints by a respective first packet-based communications channel and to at least one transmitting endpoint by a respective second packet-based communication channel; wherein the SVCS is configured to: receive a plurality of video signal layers from the at least one transmitting endpoint over the second communications channel, select, for each video signal layer and each receiving endpoint, whether each video signal layer is to be forwarded to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel based upon consideration of network conditions or in response to requests from the at least one receiving endpoint, and forward the selected layers to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel without decoding or re-coding the video signal; wherein the SVCS is configured to improve the quality of service of at least one layer forwarded over at least one first communication channel by at least one of: • the SVCS being configured to proactively repeat transmission of the base layer information; and • the SVCS being configured to cache the base layer information and to retransmit the cached information upon request by the receiving endpoint. a scalable video coding server (SVCS) linked to each of a plurality of receiving endpoints by a respective first packet-based communications channel and to at least one transmitting endpoint by a respective second packet-based communication channel; wherein the SVCS is configured to: receive a plurality of video signal layers from the at least one transmitting endpoint over the second communications channel, select, for each video signal layer and each receiving endpoint, whether each video signal layer is to be forwarded to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel based upon consideration of network conditions or in response to requests from the at least one receiving endpoint, and forward the selected layers to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel without decoding or re-coding the video signal; receive a plurality of video signal layers from the at least one transmitting endpoint over the second communications channel, select, for each video signal layer and each receiving endpoint, whether each video signal layer is to be forwarded to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel based upon consideration of network conditions or in response to requests from the at least one receiving endpoint, and forward the selected layers to the at least one receiving endpoint over the first communication channel without decoding or re-coding the video signal; wherein the SVCS is configured to improve the quality of service of at least one layer forwarded over at least one first communication channel by at least one of: • the SVCS being configured to proactively repeat transmission of the base layer information; and • the SVCS being configured to cache the base layer information and to retransmit the cached information upon request by the receiving endpoint. • the SVCS being configured to proactively repeat transmission of the base layer information; and • the SVCS being configured to cache the base layer information and to retransmit the cached information upon request by the receiving endpoint.