Abstract: A new method to limit the number of holes a system administrator must open in a firewall for internet telephony. The number of holes in the firewall for telephony is limited to a first hole used for call control and a second hole used for audio traffic. Fixed destination ports for telephony traffic and call control traffics are created at a destination. Media streams are received at the telephony fixed destination port. The source of each media stream is commanded to provide a unique identifier for each media stream arriving at the destination from each source. Each media stream is identified by a unique identifier provided by the source. The unique identifier for each media stream is communicated to the destination by each source over call control. All telephony traffic is received only at the fixed destination port for telephony and all call control is received only at the fixed destination port for call control.

Abstract: A multi-protocol network client in which a single, integrated user-interface is provided for accessing information according to a number of network access protocols. The accessed information is represented in a hierarchical graph which provides an intuitive and convenient navigation tool for both the experienced and the novice user. The user accesses information according to a particular network access protocol by merely selecting a graphical representation of an item the user wishes to access from the hierarchical graph. Information pertaining to the particular item whose representation is selected by the user is retrieved and used to determine the network access protocol according to which the item is accessed. As an item is retrieved from the network, links contained within the item are parsed from the item and added to the hierarchical graph.