Abstract: Scaling and highly available clustering for large scale real-time applications is provided. A ring may be formed which includes multiple nodes for providing a set of services in a system. When a network partition is detected which affects communications between each of the nodes in the ring, the formation of additional rings is prevented by shutting down nodes which include a minority of voting nodes in the ring while maintaining the availability of the nodes which include a majority of the voting nodes to continue providing the set of services in the system.

Abstract: A universal phone number is provided for connecting to communication methods, including fixed line, mobile line, and internet communication methods. A communication group of communication methods may include multiple communication methods belonging to one individual or to multiple individuals within the communication group, such as a family. The universal phone number may be designated as the primary contact number for the communication group such incoming phone calls and text messages may be automatically routed to the communication methods in the communication group. The universal phone number may provide alerts to the multiple communication methods for notifying when incoming phone calls are answered. A universal voicemail box may also be provided for a scenario when the incoming call is not answered. Additionally, the universal phone number may provide the ability to keep the contact information for each of the individual communication methods private.

Abstract: A method, system, and architecture for providing a conference system that effectively achieves high availability conferencing is provided. The conference system architecture provides a conference system that comprises a set of stateless conference servers and a shared conference store to provide highly available conferencing to its users. The conference servers serve (host) conferences (meetings) that allow users to conduct distributed conferences. Each conference server generally performs conference provisioning operations and conference control operations. The shared conference store provides for the storage of conference state information, thus allowing the conference servers in the conference server pool to be stateless by maintaining conference state information on the shared conference store. A stateless conference server may also locally maintain, for example, in cache memory, some of the conference state information that is maintained on the shared conference store.

Abstract: Concepts and technologies are described herein for a mechanism by which participants who have been invited to attend a conference event and who are physically present within a conference event environment, such as a meeting room, can provide authentication credentials to join the conference event via a conference event environment system. When an individual attempts to join a conference event via a conference event environment system, the individual is prompted to provide his or her authentication credentials to join the conference event via the conference event environment system to participate in the conference event. The conference event environment system may inherit the individual's permissions, such as in regards to whether or not the individual has been permitted to present content during the conference event. A conference event roster may be used to indicate that the individual has joined the conference via the conference event environment system.

Abstract: A universal phone number is provided for connecting to communication methods, including fixed line, mobile line, and internet communication methods. A communication group of communication methods may include multiple communication methods belonging to one individual or to multiple individuals within the communication group, such as a family. The universal phone number may be designated as the primary contact number for the communication group such incoming phone calls and text messages may be automatically routed to the communication methods in the communication group. The universal phone number may provide alerts to the multiple communication methods for notifying when incoming phone calls are answered. A universal voicemail box may also be provided for a scenario when the incoming call is not answered. Additionally, the universal phone number may provide the ability to keep the contact information for each of the individual communication methods private.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments for validating a user joining a conferencing session. According to various embodiments, a first identifier is received. A user is identified from a plurality of users based at least in part on the first identifier. A second identifier is received that corresponds to the first identifier and the user and the user is validated based on both the first identifier and the second identifier. The user may then join the conferencing session, with the user's identity being revealed to others attending the conferencing session.

Abstract: A method, system, and architecture for providing a conference system that effectively achieves high availability conferencing is provided. The conference system architecture provides a conference system that comprises a set of stateless conference servers and a shared conference store to provide highly available conferencing to its users. The conference servers serve (host) conferences (meetings) that allow users to conduct distributed conferences. Each conference server generally performs conference provisioning operations and conference control operations. The shared conference store provides for the storage of conference state information, thus allowing the conference servers in the conference server pool to be stateless by maintaining conference state information on the shared conference store. A stateless conference server may also locally maintain, for example, in cache memory, some of the conference state information that is maintained on the shared conference store.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments for validating a user joining a conferencing session. According to various embodiments, a first identifier is received. A user is identified from a plurality of users based at least in part on the first identifier. A second identifier is received that corresponds to the first identifier and the user and the user is validated based on both the first identifier and the second identifier. The user may then join the conferencing session, with the user's identity being revealed to others attending the conferencing session.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments for validating a user joining a conferencing session. According to various embodiments, a first identifier is received. A user is identified from a plurality of users based at least in part on the first identifier. A second identifier is received that corresponds to the first identifier and the user and the user is validated based on both the first identifier and the second identifier. The user may then join the conferencing session, with the user's identity being revealed to others attending the conferencing session.

Abstract: A method, system, and architecture for providing a conference system that effectively achieves high availability conferencing is provided. The conference system architecture provides a conference system that comprises a set of stateless conference servers and a shared conference store to provide highly available conferencing to its users. The conference servers serve (host) conferences (meetings) that allow users to conduct distributed conferences. Each conference server generally performs conference provisioning operations and conference control operations. The shared conference store provides for the storage of conference state information, thus allowing the conference servers in the conference server pool to be stateless by maintaining conference state information on the shared conference store. A stateless conference server may also locally maintain, for example, in cache memory, some of the conference state information that is maintained on the shared conference store.

Abstract: Resilient load balancing servers in an enhanced communication system is provided mitigating server failures or scheduled shutdowns. A repeatable but virtually random sequence of servers is generated for a given pool of homogeneous servers based on a user identifier in a request message. If a request cannot be routed to a first choice server, for any reason, then subsequent servers in the sequence are selected. A communication protocol within the system is adapted to permit an individual server to indicate that it cannot accept new requests. Following the indication from the server, traffic associated with existing dialogs is allowed to continue to be processed by the server, but new dialogs are directed to other servers.

Abstract: User defined routing rules are managed within a primary/backup architecture through continuous replication between home servers and their corresponding presence servers in an automatic manner. User set-up rules are stored and published by a designated presence server to home servers on which the user can register including the user's home registrar and any backup registrars. Changes to the rules may be disseminated and synchronized through comparison of versions and exchange of batches between the presence server and registrars.

Abstract: A method and system for combining SIP requests with SIP responses is provided. When a server receives a request from a client, a message combining system of the server sends a response to the request that includes the content of a request that the server would normally send to the client in a separate request. The message combining system of the server composes a response as it would normally and adds the content of the subsequent request to the response. The server then sends the combined response and request to the client. When the client receives the response, it retrieves and processes the combined request.

Abstract: Users attempting to join a conference facilitated by an enhanced communication system employing a network communication protocol such as SIP and having a distributed architecture are enabled to request the conference through a numeric conference identifier. The conference directory identifier is assigned to an associated resource, rather than directly to a pool of resources in the communication system. If a pool is decommissioned, any conference directories with remaining data may be assigned to other pools, like users may be moved, to ensure continuity of the system.

Abstract: A method, system, and architecture for detecting MCU failures is provided. The conference system detects the failure of MCUs that have been allocated to provide shared conference resources to conferences that are being hosted by the conference system. The conference system utilizes the sending and receiving of “heartbeat” messages between the MCUs and the conference server pool to detect failed MCUs. Upon detecting the failure of an MCU, the conference system performs a “rollover” of the conferences which were being serviced by the failed MCU to another available MCU. The conference system may then identify the clients which were connected to the failed MCU and notifies the clients that an MCU rollover has occurred and a new (replacement) MCU is available in order that these clients can reconnect and reestablish their media sessions.

Abstract: Users attempting to join a conference facilitated by an enhanced communication system employing a network communication protocol such as SIP and having a distributed architecture are enabled to request the conference through a numeric conference identifier. The conference directory identifier is assigned to an associated resource, rather than directly to a pool of resources in the communication system. If a pool is decommissioned, any conference directories with remaining data may be assigned to other pools, like users may be moved, to ensure continuity of the system.

Abstract: Architecture for providing a superuser privilege in a conferencing environment. A pre-configured entity such as a bot program receives special conferencing privileges. A request can be identified as originating from a trusted service and an associated predetermined set of privileges passed to the service. The trusted service can impersonate a user, and join a conference using its own identity or using the identity of a user. Conference control rules can be enforced on the trusted user (e.g., no other users can eject or mute this entity). Moreover, the trusted service can (optionally) hide itself from the conference roster to remain invisible to all participants.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments for validating a user joining a conferencing session. According to various embodiments, a first identifier is received. A user is identified from a plurality of users based at least in part on the first identifier. A second identifier is received that corresponds to the first identifier and the user and the user is validated based on both the first identifier and the second identifier. The user may then join the conferencing session, with the user's identity being revealed to others attending the conferencing session.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed providing secure reservationless conferencing, allowing an organizer to arrange a meeting while off-line from a conferencing server, with the conferencing server still enforcing security for the meeting.

Abstract: A synchronization system establishes a session between a client end point and a server end point via an intermediary server of a server pool. When messages sent from the client end point to the server end point are received at the server pool and the intermediary server is unavailable, the messages are routed to a new intermediary server. The end points, however, may be unsynchronized as a result of the unavailability. The new intermediary server can detect that it is a new intermediary server for the session and assumes that the server end point and the client end point may be unsynchronized because of the unavailability. The new intermediary server then notifies the client end point that it may need to re-synchronize with the server end point.