Patent ID: 6909708

Claim:
A method for media communication over a hybrid network which includes a switched network, a packet switched network, and a directory of internet protocol addresses for the packet switched network, the method comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a multicast communication among a plurality of parties via the switched network and the packet switched network for transmitting a first type of information and a second type of information in Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) format and by utilizing the directory of internet protocol addresses, wherein the first type of information is selected from the group consisting of video information and audio information and the second type of information is selected from the group consisting of video information, audio information and data information; (b) simultaneously transmitting the first type of information from one of the plurality of parties to the others of the plurality of parties participating in the multicast communication; and (c) simultaneously transmitting the second type of information from each of the parties participating in the communication to each of the other parties participating in the communication.