Abstract: A click to talk system for use in a data network is disclosed. In response to a user selection on a browser, a click to talk server bridges an IP capable voice device to the browser by translating between data network protocols. Additionally, a media server may be manually or automatically contacted to provide a media stream simultaneously with a voice connection between a client computer running the browser and the IP capable voice device.

Abstract: A multiplicity of users is connected to a network, as are m servers. The users are organized into n user groups, each including a plurality of users, such that all the users in a group are part of a common database which permits intercommunication between them. That database is duplicated in a subset of p of the servers, and the subset shares the processing load of the corresponding user group. When a user in the respective user group attempts to communicate with another user, one of the servers in the subset p will accommodate the necessary processing initiate set up of the connection. At the same time, each server accommodates users in q different groups. Should one of the servers fail, each of the other servers in each subset p accommodating the failing server's users will accommodate the failed server's share of those users. Thus, the processing load of each user group is handled with a redundancy of p (the number of servers in a subset), ensuring a high level of availability.