A technique and method provide virtual N-way video conferencing to
participants having IP stations/videophones, which have limited
processing capacity, by auto-selecting a limited subset of the
participants for video display and restricting the rest of the
participants to voice-only mode which requires reduced processing
capability. The method uses a virtual n-way conferencing module (VNCM) to
provide the video conferencing, and an auto caller select module (ACSM)
for causing selective video display. Some of the participants might have
VoIP terminals instead of IP videophones. The invention includes a
technique, e.g., by using a video transmission control module (VTCM) for
reducing the bandwidth requirement of IP videophones by signaling the
participants in voice-only mode not to transmit the video information in
bandwidth-constrained situations. Also taught herein is an article
comprising a storage medium having instructions thereon which when
executed by a computing platform will result in execution of the method.