Selectively-expandable speakerphone system and method

A laptop computer teleconferencing system, comprising:

• a plurality of laptop computers each having a microphone, a loudspeaker, and a wireless networking interface configured for communicating on any of a plurality of distinct wireless local area networks;
• a wireless audio access point for connecting the laptop computers with a telephone system on a selected one of the wireless local area networks, communicating audio signals generated by the microphones to the telephone system for substantially simultaneous transmission over a telephone line, and communicating audio signals received over the telephone line by the telephone system to all of the laptop computers for substantially simultaneous playback on the loudspeakers;
• and
• an audio control applet disposed on each laptop computer, configured for automatically diverting the audio signals generated by the microphone to the telephone system for transmission over the telephone line and for automatically diverting audio signals received over the telephone line by the telephone system to the laptop computer when the laptop computer is connected to the selected wireless local area network.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium including computer usable program code for conducting a conference call, the computer program product including:

• computer usable program code for connecting a plurality of portable computers to a speakerphone console on a wireless local area network;
• computer usable program code for generating an audio signal using the microphone on each portable computer;
• computer usable program code for wirelessly routing and transmitting the audio signal generated by the microphone of each portable computer to the speakerphone console for substantially simultaneous transmission over a telephone line;
• computer usable program code for receiving and routing an audio signal received over the telephone line by the speakerphone console to the loudspeaker of each portable computer for substantially simultaneous playback on the loudspeakers;
• and
• computer usable program code for automatically diverting the audio signals generated by the microphones to the speakerphone console and for automatically diverting the audio signal received over the telephone line to the portable computers when the portable computers are connected to the selected wireless local area network.