The present invention implements a multimedia business communications
platform that 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.