Abstract: A video visitation communication system configured to establish a communication channel using transmittal of simple identifiers. The system includes a plurality of communication stations, each station having a microphone configured to generate an audio signal, a video camera configured to receive the audio signal and generate a combined audio/video signal for transmission, and a display configured to display a received audio/video signal. The system further includes a communication administration station configured to perform steps stored on a computer readable medium to establish a communication channel between the first communication station and the second communication station.