Patent ID: 7426193

Claim:
A program storage device, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method for establishing a connection for an endpoint to a scheduled audiovisual conference between a plurality participants, the plurality of participants connecting to the audiovisual conference from a plurality of endpoints, connections for the plurality of endpoints to the audiovisual conference being maintained by a multipoint control unit, said instructions embodied in said program storage device comprising: (a) receiving a request at a conference control server from a participant to connect an endpoint associated with the participant to the scheduled audiovisual conference; (b) obtaining an IP address or a telephone number for the endpoint; (c) writing the IP address or the telephone number for the endpoint to the multipoint control unit; (d) communicating audiovisual conference data from the multipoint control unit to the endpoint via the IP address or the telephone number, thereby facilitating a dynamically allocated IP address or a dynamically provided ISDN/PSTN telephone number for at least one endpoint in an audiovisual conference and enabling the endpoint to be connected to the audiovisual conference.