Patent ID: 8560612

Claim:
A method for dynamically adjusting communication types within a communication session comprising: defining a real time communication session having more than two communication participants, wherein the real time communication session comprises at least two distinct communication types that include audio and video, wherein said real time communication session has an upper audio threshold of N representing a maximum number of the communication session participants that receive a bidirectional audio channel of the communication session, wherein said real time communication session has an upper video threshold of M representing a maximum number of communication session participants that receive a bidirectional video channel, wherein N and M are integers greater than two, and wherein N is greater than M; while the number of session participants utilizing the audio channel and the video channel is M, receiving a request to add at least one additional session participant to the communication session where the request is for an audio and a video channel; responsive to the request, demoting at least one of the existing session participants from participating within the communication session via both the audio channel and the video channel so that the demoted session participant communicates within the communication session through the audio channel only; and responsive to the demoting, permitting the additional session participant to join the communication session via both the audio and the video channels, which results in a total of M session participants receiving the video channel.