Patent ID: 8832322

Claim:
A dongle adapter, comprising: a first port configured for communications using a first communications protocol, wherein the first port is attached to a computing device configured for communications according to the first communications protocol; a second port configured for communications using a second communications protocol, wherein the second port is attached to an online indicator (“OLI”) configured for communications according to the second communications protocol, wherein the OLI operates under control of the computing device and wherein the OLI includes a light that when illuminated indicates that a user associated with the OLI is engaged in conversation; and a translator configured to receive commands from the computing device formatted according to the first communications protocol, translate the received commands into the second communications protocol and send the translated commands to the OLI, and wherein the translator is further configured to translate commands received from the OLI formatted according to the second communications protocol, translate the received commands into the first communications protocol, and send the translated commands to the computing device.