Patent ID: 7940704

Claim:
A method of initiating a conferencing session among mobile devices that support a data packet-based communications service over a digital mobile network system, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting a proposed conference time message to an invited participant through an electronic mail system, the proposed conference time message comprising a proposed time, a unique identification number corresponding to a server and used by the digital mobile network system to locate the server, and conference identifying information; opening a listening port on the initiating mobile device at the proposed time to listen for a connection request from the server; transmitting, by the initiating mobile device, a conference initiation message to the unique identification number through a page-mode messaging service, wherein the page-mode messaging service is Short Message Service (SMS), the conference initiation message comprising an IP address of the initiating mobile device, the opened listening port and the conference identifying information; establishing by the initiating mobile device a session-based IP connection with the server upon receiving the connection request from the server; participating by the initiating mobile device in the conference session through the established session-based IP connection with the server to communicate with a participating mobile device of the invited participant, wherein the participating mobile device has established its own IP session-based connection with the server by transmitting a conference participant message to the unique identification number through the page-mode messaging service, the conference participant message comprising an IP address of the participating mobile device and the conference identifying information, wherein the server forwards all communications exchanged among mobile devices participating in the conference session through the established session-based IP connections.