Patent ID: 7694228

Claim:
A method of managing a conference amongst remote participants, comprising: establishing the conference amongst a host communications device, an intermediate host communications device, and a participant communications device; prior to the conference, communicating a library of digital objects from the host communications device to the intermediate host communications device; determining that the participant communications device is belatedly joining the conference that is already in progress; during the conference, receiving a synchronization command at the intermediate host communications device that was sent from the host communications device, the command instructing the intermediate host communications device to retrieve a current object from memory of the intermediate host communications device that is being currently presented on the host communications device from the library of digital objects; communicating the current object from the intermediate host communications device to the participant communications device during the conference; receiving, at the intermediate host communications device, a synchronization acknowledgment from the participant communications device that confirms the current object was successfully presented the participant communications device; forwarding the synchronization acknowledgment from the intermediate host communications device to the host communications device to confirm the current object was successfully presented at the participant communications device; and during the conference, downloading a remainder of the library of digital objects from the intermediate host communications device to the participant communications device.