Patent ID: 7872994

Claim:
A method for implementing a conference session among a plurality of users connected over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, comprising: receiving, by a front-end ingress service having a voice user interface (VUI), a request from an endpoint to access a back-end conference service, the request being transmitted over the IP network, a first dialog being established between the endpoint and the front-end ingress service after receipt of the request; obtaining information over the IP network from the endpoint that entitles a user of the endpoint to access the back-end conference service; sending, by the front-end ingress service, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) out-of-dialog REFER message over the IP network to the back-end conference service that instructs the back-end conference service to send an INVITE message over the IP network directly to the endpoint, the INVITE message causing a second dialog to be established between the endpoint and the back-end conference service, the second dialog replacing the first dialog, the SIP out-of-dialog REFER message including a first message header line containing a first identifier of the back-end conference service, and a second message header line containing a second identifier specifying the endpoint and an embedded SIP Replaces message header specifying an identifier of the first session; and receiving a SIP BYE message sent by the endpoint over the IP network that ends the first session after the second session between the back-end conference service and the endpoint has been established.