Patent ID: 8218457

Claim:
A communication terminal, comprising: a phone manager within a packet network endpoint, the phone manager including an interface for a communication line employed by the packet network endpoint to carry analog voice signals during a conference; a telephony controller within the packet network endpoint, the telephony controller including an interface to each of a plurality of voice-over-Internet Protocol signaling protocols employed by the packet network endpoint during the conference; an application controller within the packet network endpoint and coupled to the phone manager and the telephony controller, the application controller supporting multi-party conferencing for calls involving two or more of the plurality of signaling protocols; and a digital signal processor within the packet network endpoint and coupled to the phone manager and the telephony controller, the digital signal processor configured to process audio information during a conference by: receiving a first audio stream associated with a user of the packet network endpoint; combining the first audio stream with only a second audio stream from a first remote endpoint coupled to the packet network endpoint by a packet network to form a first combined audio stream, the first remote endpoint using a first signaling protocol; providing the first combined audio stream to a second remote endpoint coupled to the packet network endpoint by the packet network, wherein the second remote endpoint uses a second signaling protocol different from the first signaling protocol; combining the first audio stream with only a third audio stream from the second remote endpoint to form a second combined audio stream; and providing the second combined audio stream to the first remote endpoint.