Patent ID: 8438235

Claim:
A method for escalating an instant message (IM) session to an audio or audiovisual session, comprising: (a) automatically discovering for a first participant of an IM session on a first communication device what other communication devices are proximate to such first communication device, wherein the one or more proximate other communication devices differ from the first communication device of the first participant, wherein the first communication device and other communication devices pertain to different physical devices; (b) from the one or more proximate other communication devices that were automatically discovered to be proximate to the first communication device, selecting an optimum communication device for use by the first participant in an audio or audiovisual session; and (c) in response to a request for escalating the IM session to an audio or audiovisual session being received from a selected one of the participants of the IM session, escalating from the first communication device being used for the IM session by the first participant to the selected optimum communication device being used for the audio or audiovisual session by the first participant.