Patent ID: 8667142

Claim:
A first user terminal that switches (a) an original communication session between the first user terminal and a second user terminal to (b) a subsequent communication session between the second user terminal and a third user terminal, the first user terminal comprising: a connectivity information unit that receives connectivity information from at least one candidate user terminal responsive to the at least one candidate user terminal attempting to establish a network connection with the second user terminal prior to the first user terminal switching to the subsequent communication session; a terminal determining unit that selects the third user terminal from among the at least one candidate user terminal, the third user terminal being selected when at least the connectivity information indicates that the network connection had been established between the second user terminal and the third user terminal prior to the first user terminal switching to the subsequent communication session, wherein the connectivity information indicates whether authentication with the third user terminal was successful; and a transferring unit that switches from (a) the original communication session between the first user terminal and the second user terminal to (b) the subsequent communication session between the second user terminal and the third user terminal.