Packet-based data communication systems suffer from packet loss under high network traffic conditions. As a result, the receiver is often left with an incomplete description of the requested data. Multiple description source coding addresses the problem of minimizing the expected distortion caused by packet loss. An equivalent problem is that of source coding for data transmission over multiple channels where each channel has some probability of breaking down. Recent work in practical multiple description coding explores the design of multiple description scalar and vector quantizers for the case of two channels or packets. This paper presents a new practical algorithm, based on a ternary tree structure, for the design of both fixed- and variable-rate multiple description vector quantizers for an arbitrary number of channels. Experimental results achieved by codes designed with this algorithm show that they perform well under a wide range of packet loss scenarios.