Patent ID: 8189754

Claim:
An image sharing system, comprising: a server apparatus; a first client apparatus and a second client apparatus, which are communicably connected to said server apparatus; a first telephone terminal associated with said first client apparatus; a second telephone terminal associated with said second client apparatus; a connection control apparatus for controlling a connection between said first telephone terminal and said second telephone terminal; and a communication terminal including a photographing means for photographing a subject to output an image of the subject, and an image sending means for sending image data representing the image outputted from said photographing means, wherein said server apparatus is configured to send a share image to both said first client apparatus and said second client apparatus; both said first client apparatus and said second client apparatus are configured to display said share image, said communication terminal is configured to send authentication-input information that is inputted by a user and said image data to said server apparatus, said connection control apparatus is configured to store, when said first telephone terminal and said second telephone terminal are connected to each other, a set of telephone terminal identification information to identify said first telephone terminal and telephone terminal identification information to identify said second telephone terminal, and connection identification information to identify the connection, on a one-to-one correspondence basis, said server apparatus is configured: to receive said authentication-input information; to acquire telephone terminal identification information based on said received authentication-input information; and to receive connection identification information from said connection control apparatus that is stored in said connection control apparatus in a one-to-one correspondence with said acquired telephone terminal identification information, said server apparatus is configured to store the connection identification information that is received based on said authentication-input information received from said communication terminal, and said image data that is received together with said authentication-input information, on a one-to-one correspondence basis, both said first client apparatus and said second client apparatus are configured to send authentication-input information inputted by the user, to said server apparatus, and said server apparatus is configured to send to a client apparatus that has sent said authentication-input information, as said share image, an image represented by the image data that is stored in a one-to-one correspondence with the connection identification information that is received based on said authentication-input information received from said client apparatus.