Transport system for instant messaging

Abstract From the Canadian patent

An exemplary method involves creating a master session over a first connection through a server; and creating a virtual channel over the connection the virtual channel operable to communicate a feature session. The method may involve establishing a direct connection that bypasses the server and switching communication of the feature session to the direct connection. A system for network communication includes a plurality of transport bridges each transport bridge corresponding to an active network device configuration and a switching module operable to choose one of the transport bridges to form a connection between two computing devices based on the active network device configuration.