Patent attributes
A system, apparatus, and methods are provided for establishing and supporting a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) call from one computing/communication device to another. The system receives a call offer from a caller, forwards it to the callee, and identifies to each party multiple candidate relay entities for relaying their digitized voice communications. Each device binds with one or all relays, and either or both of them select one of the relays to use in a relay mode of operation of the call, if necessary. One or more of the relays inform the devices of their external network addresses, and each device passes its (internal and external) addresses to each other, through the system. The devices attempt to establish a direct connection to conduct their call in a peer-to-peer mode of operation, but may dynamically switch between peer-to-peer and relay modes as necessary.
