Patent ID: 7050425

Claim:
In a communications network adapted for communication between a first caller and a second caller, an apparatus comprising: a first interface to a first communication medium, said first communication medium coupling said first caller to said apparatus via said first interface; a second interface to a second communication medium, said second communication medium coupling said apparatus to said second caller via said second interface; at least one connection routine adapted to cause control signals to be sent to at least one of said first and second callers to enable media type selections, at least one of said media type selections including a selection of at least two different media types; and a packet handling routine adapted to transmit a plurality of digital media packets corresponding to each of said at least two different media types; wherein, for at least one of said at least two different media types, at least a portion of said plurality of corresponding digital media packets are transmitted to at least one of said first and second callers in accordance with said media type selections via said first interface and packet handling routine, over one or more packet switched communication channels, wherein for at least one of said at least two different media types, the apparatus causes media signals to be communicated between the first and second callers, and wherein one of the first and second communication mediums comprises a packet switched network, and the other of the first and second communication mediums comprises a non-packet switched network.