Patent ID: 8019071

Claim:
A method of performing distributed conferencing comprising: receiving, at a Public Branch Exchange (PBX), a plurality of calls intended for a conference bridge from a plurality of conference participants as part of a teleconference; conferencing said plurality of conference participants at said PBX by filtering calls at the PBX; and connecting said plurality of conference participants to said conference bridge by way of a single connection from said PBX to said conference bridge, connecting said plurality of conference participants including using a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) line between said PBX and said conference bridge, the single connection being a trunk circuit connecting to a single port of the conference bridge; transmitting an identification of conference participants added to the conference at the PBX by signaling the conference bridge over an Internet Protocol (IP) network; and transmitting conferencing feature requests from conference participants at the PBX to the conference bridge via the IP network.