System and method for the control and management of multipoint conference

An audiovisual communication system comprising:

• one or more endpoints for transmitting or receiving media data over a communication network;
• and
• one or more servers coupled to the one or more endpoints and to each other over the communication network,
• wherein the one or more servers are configured to:
• upon receiving a request from a first of the one or more endpoints, directly or through the one or more servers, to provide media data from a selected subset of the one or more endpoints, to apply the selection and forward media data from the selected subset of the one or more endpoints that it is currently receiving to the first of the one or more endpoints that requested it, directly or through the one or more servers.

A method for audiovisual communication, the method comprising at a server:

• receiving a request from a first endpoint, directly or through another server, to provide media data from a second endpoint, and
• forwarding the request to the second endpoint, directly or through another server,
• receiving media data from the second endpoint, directly or through another servers, and
• forwarding the media data to the first endpoint, directly or through the one or more servers.