Patent ID: 8605132

Claim:
A videoconference system in which a plurality of users communicate video and audio data to each other, the system comprising: at least two conference servers each having a plurality of users linked to one another over the server wherein the plurality of users can share real time audio and video data with one another, said conference servers being in communication with each other; a plurality of redundant videoconference applications configured to run on said at least two conference servers, and at least one resource distribution node configured to determine in response to a request for access to one of said videoconference applications a selected of said plurality of redundant videoconference applications to utilize, wherein said plurality of redundant videoconference applications includes at least one presence application configured to facilitate a communication connection between one of said plurality of users and one of said at least two conference servers, each of said at least one presence application having a predetermined capacity defining a number of potential concurrent connections, and wherein each said resource distribution node determines the capacity of each said presence application and if said resource distribution node receives a request from a user to connect to a presence application, said resource distribution node directs said requesting user to one of said at least two conference servers which is configured to run the presence application having the greatest available capacity.