1. A device control system for incorporation in a system having at least a first node and a second node between which media streams are exchanged, comprising: an abstracted device interface allowing a user associated with the first node to control a device associated with the first node without specific knowledge of the device, such that one or more features of media streams exchanged between the device associated with the first node and a device associated with the second node are controlled by the user associated with the first node, the abstracted device interface further allowing a user associated with the second node to control a device associated with the second node without specific knowledge of the device, such that one or more features of media streams exchanged between the device associated with the second node and a device associated with the first node are controlled by the user associated with the second node; a general device component coupled to the abstracted device interface and defining an application program interface (API) for accessing the device; a feature definition set operatively connected to the general device component, the feature definition set defining a feature associated with the device; and a specific device component operatively connected to the general device component, the specific device component supporting the feature; wherein an abstracted control command from the abstracted device interface is translated to a device-specific control command using the feature definition set.