A conferencing server is provided for a data network telephony system for
facilitating multi-party call conferencing. The conferencing server
generally includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) signaling
interface and a media conferencing module. The media conferencing module
includes a number of selectable media decoders compliant with known media
CODEC protocols, such as G.711. A number of media stream queues s are
selectively coupled to the media decoders for storing the decoded
incoming media streams. A jitter correction processor is provided to
compensate for arrival time jitter in the data stored in the media stream
queues. A mixer, which receives the jitter corrected data from each of
the queues, generates an aggregate conferencing stream of all active
participants and generates individual participant conference streams for
each active participant in the conference. A number of selectable media
encoders are then used to encode the individual participant conference
streams in accordance with a media CODEC protocol supported by the
respective participant. The encoded participant conference streams are
then distributed to the various conference participants via the data
network, such as the Internet.