Patent ID: 8576271

Claim:
A method for cross-linking clients and using a video conference server to manage the clients within the video conference, comprising: establishing a first connection between a first client and a server in a video conference and establishing a second connection between a second client and the server in the video conference; determining a first capability of the first client and a second capability of the second client; wherein the first capability and the second capability is an ability to encode and decode streams that are used within the video conference; in response to determining a first capability of the first client and a second capability of the second client, sending a request from the video conference server to at least one of the first client and the second client to establish a cross-link connection between the first client and the second client, wherein after the cross-link connection is established a stream is delivered between the first client and the second client without passing through the video conference server; and using the video conference server to manage the first client and the second client in the video conference.