COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS SUPPORTING SHARED MULTIMEDIA SESSION

A public switched telephone network for providing information from a multimedia information server to any one of a plurality of subscriber premises, comprises a central office receiving multimedia information signals from a multimedia information server and orders from a prescribed subscriber. The central office includes a gateway system for conveying routing data in response to subscriber orders and a switch for routing multimedia signals from the server to the prescribed subscriber in accordance with the routing data. An interface at the central office transmits and receives audio telephone service signals, subscriber control signals and digital multimedia information signals on first, second and third signal channels. Each subscriber premises includes an interface for transmitting and receiving audio telephone service signals, subscriber control signals and digital multimedia information signals on the three signal channels. A plurality of subscriber local loops interconnect each subscriber interface and the central office interface. Multimedia information is collected from information providers and stored at media servers that provide a library of data and control sessions. Software modules at the media servers and resident terminals enable interactive multimedia session building, sharing of databases and joint authoring of multimedia presentations.