Patent ID: 7966404

Claim:
A method, in a telecommunication network, of providing simultaneous voice, video and data applications between at least two subscribers, said method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a proxy apparatus, a request for a communication session, the request originating from a first subscriber and identifying at least a second subscriber to the communication session, the first subscriber using a first group of terminals and the second subscriber using a second group of terminals wherein the first group of terminals have a first set of operating characteristics and systems and the second group of terminals have a second set of operating characteristics and systems, the first group of terminals comprising three terminals including a GSM mobile telephone using a circuit switched speech bearer, a laptop computer linked via a PCMCIA card using a circuit switched data bearer to a GSM cellular communication network and a data terminal connected via GPRS and the second group of terminals comprising a laptop linked to a corporate LAN and a telephone using a phone shell running on a workstation being connected to the corporate LAN; evaluating types of communication available for the first group of terminals and the second group of terminals; setting up terminal sub-sessions from the proxy apparatus to the first group of terminals and to the second group of terminals according to types of communication available, wherein the plurality of different terminals in the at least one of the first group of terminals and the second group of terminals are each associated with a sub-session of the communication session, each sub-session being associated with the communication session; the proxy apparatus mapping incoming media streams from the first group of terminals onto outgoing media streams to the second group of terminals and synchronizing different payload data streams, the data streams including video and voice.