Speakerphone and conference bridge which request and perform polling operations
First Claim
1. A speakerphone for communicating with one or more endpoints via a conference bridge, the speakerphone comprising:
- an audio processing unit;
a control module communicably coupled to the audio processing unit; and
a network interface communicably coupled to the control module;
wherein the control module is operable to send control data in combination with audio data to the conference bridge;
wherein the control data comprises an instruction from the speakerphone that the conference bridge collect responses to a poll of the persons participating in the conference call;
wherein the network interface sends and receives data according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and
wherein the control data is combined in-band with the audio data and wherein the control data is substantially humanly inaudible.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and devices for improved audio, video, and data conferencing. The present invention provides a conferencing system comprising a plurality of endpoints communicating data including audio data and control data according to a communication protocol. A local conference endpoint may control or be controlled by a remote conference endpoint. Data comprising control signals may be exchanged between the local endpoint and remote endpoint via various communication protocols. In other embodiments, the present invention provides for improved bridge architecture for controlling functions of conference endpoints including controlling functions of the bridge.
-
Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A speakerphone for communicating with one or more endpoints via a conference bridge, the speakerphone comprising:
-
an audio processing unit; a control module communicably coupled to the audio processing unit; and a network interface communicably coupled to the control module; wherein the control module is operable to send control data in combination with audio data to the conference bridge; wherein the control data comprises an instruction from the speakerphone that the conference bridge collect responses to a poll of the persons participating in the conference call; wherein the network interface sends and receives data according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and wherein the control data is combined in-band with the audio data and wherein the control data is substantially humanly inaudible. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A multipoint conferencing system comprising:
-
a speakerphone; a multipoint conference bridge; and a communication channel having a communication protocol coupling a plurality of remote conference endpoints during a conference call; wherein the speakerphone comprises a control module operable to send control data in combination with audio data to the bridge; wherein the control data comprises an instruction that the bridge collect responses to a poll from one or more of the plurality of remote conference endpoints; wherein the bridge collect responses to the poll of the persons participating in the conference call from the one or more of the plurality of remote conference endpoints; wherein the communication protocol is selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and wherein the control data is combined in-band with the audio data and wherein the control data is substantially humanly inaudible. - View Dependent Claims (5)
-
-
6. A conference bridge for multipoint conferencing among a plurality of endpoints via one or more networks, the bridge comprising:
-
a network interface for receiving audio data in combination with control data from the plurality of endpoints; a control data extraction module coupled to the network interface for extracting embedded control data from audio data; a control data decode module coupled to said control data extraction module to decode the extracted control data; a control data handling module coupled to said control data decode module to interpret the control data and perform responsive operations; an audio unit coupled to the network interface for receiving audio data, mixing audio data, and transmitting the mixed audio data; wherein the control data comprises a response to a poll of persons participating in a conference call and a request to poll such persons; wherein the combined audio and control signal is sent according to a communication protocol selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and wherein the control signal is combined in-band with the audio signal and wherein the control signal is substantially humanly inaudible. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
-
-
9. A method for polling one or more remote endpoints during an audio conference, the method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving an audio signal from a microphone of a speakerphone; developing a control signal in the speakerphone, wherein the control signal comprises an instruction to poll the users of the one or more remote endpoints during the conference; combining the audio signal and the control signal in the speakerphone; sending the combined audio and control signal from the speakerphone to a conference bridge; wherein the combined audio and control signal is sent according to a communication protocol selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and wherein the control signal is combined in-band with the audio signal and wherein the control signal is substantially humanly inaudible. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computer for polling one or more remote endpoints during an audio conference by performing the steps of:
-
receiving an audio signal from a microphone of a speakerphone; developing a control signal in the speakerphone, wherein the control signal comprises an instruction to poll the users of the one or more remote endpoints during the conference; combining the audio signal and the control signal in the speakerphone; sending the combined audio and control signal from the speakerphone to the one or more remote endpoints; wherein the combined audio and control signal is sent according to a communication protocol selected from the group consisting of IP, modem data, ISDN, and analog; and wherein the control signal is combined in-band with the audio signal and wherein the control signal is substantially humanly inaudible. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
Specification