CONFERENCE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, MONITORING APPARATUS AND PROGRAM

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely transmit the generation of a fault in an MCU (multipoint control unit) or a conference terminal to respective conference participants, to perform suitable handling in a communication system that attains conference communication through the MCU. SOLUTION: In the conference communication system including a plurality of conference terminals each of which establishes a communication session with the MCU to perform conference communication, a primary MCU and a secondary MCU which is a substitutive unit, when a fault occurs is provided with a monitoring apparatus for monitoring the operation of the primary MCU and respective conference terminals. When a fault of the primary MCU is detected, the fault detection is notified to respective conference terminals, to instruct the switching of a connection destination of the communication session to the secondary MCU; whereas, when a fault of any one of the conference terminals is detected, fault detection is notified to the other conference terminals, and the monitoring apparatus is made to execute processing for instructing the MCU in operation, to disconnect the communication session with the conference terminal where the fault has occurred. COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT