Patent ID: 8179419

Claim:
A single body video conferencing system, comprising: a host device capable of processing and outputting a live stream of audio data, said host device including a user-operable switch; software of the host device arranged to send requests for the live stream of audio data to the microphone; and a microphone unit integrally coupled to the host device configured to capture the live stream of audio data when enabled comprising: a microphone and an indicator unit hard-wired to the microphone arranged to provide an affirmative indication that the microphone is truly on such that an end user cannot be misled into thinking that the microphone is off when in reality it is still on, wherein the microphone can only transmit said live stream of audio data to the host device when a user enables the user-operable switch mechanism and when the microphone is receiving the requests for the live stream of audio data from the software of the host device, thereby precluding an inadvertent transmission of said live stream of audio data.