Patent ID: RE40135

Claim:
A method for managing channels within an audio conferencing system comprising: receiving a call on a channel, the call associated with a conference; identifying a first resource having a predetermined capacity to receive additional conferences, the first resource having a plurality of channels and operating under control of a processor to handle audio conferences; mapping the channel to one of the plurality of channels of the first resource if the capacity of the first resource is sufficient to add the channel; moving at least one of the plurality of channels of the first resource associated with a second conference to at least one other resource if the capacity of the first resource is not sufficient to add the channel; for respective conferences, determining a predetermined number of highest talk level channels associated with the respective conference based on a comparison of channels of the resources having channels associated with the respective conference, the predetermined number independent of a total number of resources having channels associated with the respective conference; and summing the predetermined number of highest talk level channels as output for the respective conference.