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Abstract

A multimedia business communications platform enables conference casting over a network. End users or so-called “audience members” participate in conference casts from anywhere on the Internet or behind an enterprise firewall using a standard Web browser running a streaming media player. The conference platform typically includes a number of subsystems: a Web reservation subsystem, a voice server subsystem, a content storage subsystem, a monitoring data subsystem, an attendee access subsystem, and an archive subsystem. Web reservation subsystem provides a mechanism that enables an entity to make an event reservation. Web reservation subsystem typically includes a database and an associated database management system. Voice server subsystem validates a user and converts an incoming telephone signal (i.e., the conference call) to an output data stream. Attendee access subsystem responds to attendee requests and returns information (e.g., a data structure such as a stream metafile) that directs an attendee's streaming media player on how to join the conference cast. Content storage subsystem is used to manage event information and, under the control of the archive subsystem, to archive the event files. The monitoring data subsystem comprises a set of monitoring agents distributed throughout the network. Using these components, the system implements just-in-time resource provisioning, automated signal acquisition and streaming, and automated archiving upon event completion.

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