IDENTIFYING AN APPROPRIATE CONNECTION POINT FOR CONNECTING TO AN APPLICATION LAYER SESSION

A multi-party application layer session, such as, for example, an electronic conference, is configured to make efficient use of resources associated with lower layer connections that connect computer systems participating in the multi-party application layer session. In response to receiving an invitation to join a multi-party application layer session, a joining computer system calculates a closeness metric value at least to one or more zones of the multi-party application layer session. A closeness metric value is calculated from measured and/or pre-configured characteristics of lower layer connections. The joining computer system identifies an application layer connection point within a specified threshold of closeness to the joining computer system. The joining computer system establishes an application layer connection to the identified application layer connection point. Accordingly, a joining computer system considers the characteristics of lower layer connections when determining where to connect to a multi-party application layer session.