There are many examples of interactive visual and multimedia applications including Movies on Demand, video conferencing, etc., which are emerging in trials and eventually in full service networks. Technology and standards are being developed for these services and networks. DSM-CC (Digital Storage Media Command and Control), a sub-group of MPEG, is one such standard. AT&T has been active in the DSM-CC sub-group, submitting its V Protocol in cooperation with other companies. The V Protocol is a message based session layer protocol with a defined set of procedures for establishing sessions and releasing sessions/resources across the Interactive Video Network (IVN) which could include an ATM network. We discuss the interaction between the V Protocol and the ATM Q.2931 network layer protocol to set up sessions over the IVN that require ATM switched virtual circuit connections. The ATM Q.2931, connection is treated as one of many possible resources for a given session. By having a clear separation between a session and its resources, the V Protocol is capable of supporting dynamic resource allocation in a distributed server environment