Systems and methods for dynamic bridge linking

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to systems and methods for implementing telecommunications. More specifically, various embodiments of the present invention provide methods for interconnecting real-time communication links. Such methods include receiving the status of at least two communication links. The communication links may be established between endpoints and bridges in a network. One of the bridges associated with one of the communication links is selected to operate as a host bridge based at least in part on the status of the communication links. Then, after receiving the status from at least two of the communication links, the selected host bridge is automatically caused to initiate another communication link with at least another bridge associated with one of the aforementioned communication links.

1 . A method for interconnecting real-time communication links, the method comprising:
 receiving a first status associated with a first communication link, wherein the first communication link is established between a first endpoint and a first bridge in a network;   receiving a second status associated with a second communication link, wherein the second communication link is established between a second endpoint and a second bridge in the network;   selecting one of the first bridge and the second bridge to operate as a host bridge, the selecting based at least in part on the first status and the second status; and   after receiving both the first status and the second status, automatically causing the selected host bridge to initiate a third communication link with the non-selected one of the first bridge and the second bridge.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting the host bridge includes consideration of whether the first status indicates a host status, and whether the second status indicates the host status. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting the host bridge includes consideration of whether the first bridge has sufficient available capacity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the selecting the host bridge includes consideration of whether the second bridge has sufficient available capacity. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting the host bridge is based at least in part on the determination of whether one of the first bridge and the second bridge is least cost routable. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 recording a first entry in a database table, wherein the first entry includes a first plurality of call parameters related to the first communication link; and   recording a second entry in the database table, wherein the second entry includes a second plurality call parameters related to the second communication link.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first plurality of call parameters includes at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of: a bridge identifier, a call status, a port number, a conference passcode, and a bridge status. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first status associated with the first communication link is received by polling the database table. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically causing the host bridge to initiate a third communication link includes monitoring a database populated with a plurality of communication link status information to identify when the first communication link and the second communication link have been established. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the initiating a third communication link comprises:
 determining an access property of the non-host bridge;   communicating with the non-host bridge using the access property; and   transmitting a validation code from the non-host bridge to the host bridge.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the validation code is a guest passcode. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions capable of causing one or more processors to:
 receive a first status associated with a first communication link, wherein the first communication link is established between a first endpoint and a first bridge in a network;   receive a second status associated with a second communication link, wherein the second communication link is established between a second endpoint and a second bridge in the network;   select one of the first bridge and the second bridge to operate as a host bridge, wherein the selection is based at least in part on the first status and the second status; and   cause the host bridge to initiate a third communication link with the non-selected one of the first bridge and the second bridge after receiving both the first status and the second status.   
     
     
         13 . A method for interconnecting real-time communication links, the method comprising:
 receiving a first status associated with a first communication link, wherein the first communication link is established between a first endpoint and a first bridge in a network, and wherein the first status includes information related to the first communication link;   receiving a second status associated with a second communication link, wherein the second communication link is established between a second endpoint and a second bridge in the network, and wherein the second status includes information related to the second communication link;   determining a host bridge based at least in part on the first status;   dynamically linking the first bridge to the second bridge based at least in part on the first status and the second status, wherein the host bridge operates to interconnect a multi-party communication ongoing between at least the first endpoint and the second endpoint.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising:
 determining that the second bridge is the host bridge based at least in part on the second status; receiving a third status associated with a third communication link, wherein the third communication link is established between a third endpoint and a third bridge in the network; and 
 dynamically linking the third communication link to the first communication link and the second communication link by creating a fourth communication link between the host bridge and the third bridge. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first status includes at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of: a bridge identifier, a call status, a port number, a conference passcode, and a bridge status. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the determining the host bridge based at least in part on the first status includes determining if a call passcode associated with the first communication link was a host passcode or a guest passcode. 
     
     
         17 . A method of monitoring a teleconference bridge having a plurality of ports for establishing a teleconference between two or more attendees comprising:
 generating one or more transaction records in response to a change in the status of any port on said teleconference bridge;   storing the one or more transaction records in a first database connected to a first server;   copying the one or more transaction records stored in said first database to a second database connected to a second server;   in response to a user command received from a remote computer, transmitting at least one of the one or more transaction records stored in the second database, to the remote computer via a remote connection.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the remote connection is a packet network. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the remote connection is a circuit connection. 
     
     
         20 . A method of controlling a teleconference system bridge having a plurality of ports for establishing a teleconference between two or more attendees comprising:
 generating one or more passcodes in a remote computer;   transmitting the one or more generated passcodes from said remote computer to a first server via a remote connection;   storing the one or more passcodes in a first database connect to said first server;   copying the one or more passcodes to a second database connected to a second server;   comparing a user passcode received at a first port of said teleconference bridge with the one or more passcodes stored in the second database; and   establishing a teleconference between two or more attendees when the user passcode matches at least one of the one or more passcodes stored in the second database.