Patent ID: 7792262

Claim:
A method in a conference system having a processor and memory for associating a conference participant with a telephone line, the method comprising: for each of a plurality of conference participants, receiving from the conference participant an incoming call on a telephone line; after the received incoming call is answered, receiving via the telephone line from the conference participant an audio name announcement; determining by the processor whether the conference participant can be automatically identified based on information provided with the incoming call; when the conference participant can be automatically identified based on information provided with the incoming call, associating in the memory with the telephone line an identification of the conference participant that was automatically identified; when the conference participant cannot be automatically identified based on information provided with the incoming call, providing to a user a display of conference participants who have not been associated with a telephone line; outputting to the user the audio name announcement received via the telephone line; receiving from the user an identification of the conference participant associated with the telephone line based on the user recognizing the name of the conference participant from the output audio name announcement; and associating in the memory with the telephone line the identification of the conference participant that was received from the user.