Patent ID: 8290140

Claim:
A method of processing events in a telephone conference in which a plurality of telephone devices are connected via a plurality of channels, a channel per telephone device, the method comprising: detecting real and echo events in audio data received from each telephone device of the plurality of telephone devices during the conference, thereby obtaining detected events; categorizing each detected event in a real event category or in an echo event category based at least in part on one or more characteristics of said each detected event; in response to said each detected event being categorized in the real event category, executing code based on type of said each detected event and the telephone device from which said each detected event originated, execution of the code changing state of a telephone system that connects the plurality of telephone devices in the conference; and in response to said each detected event being categorized in the echo event category, ignoring said each detected event; wherein the type of said each detected event is selected from a group consisting of (i) event types that cause a telephone system that connects the plurality of telephone devices in the telephone conference to change current or future connections, (ii) event types that cause the telephone system that connects the plurality of telephone devices in the telephone conference to receive and store data, and (iii) event types that cause the telephone system that connects the plurality of telephone devices in the telephone conference to send data.