Conference-call participant-information processing

A telecommunication device comprising:

• a networking port adapted to connect the telecommunication device with one or more other telecommunication devices to establish a conference call including the telecommunication device and the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• two or more microphone ports adapted to connect the telecommunication device with two or more microphones, wherein each microphone:
• is co-located with the telecommunication device;
• is individually identifiable by the telecommunication device;
• is associated with an identifiable participant co-located with the microphone;
• and
• is adapted to transmit audio content generated by the associated participant to the telecommunication device;
• and
• a processor adapted to:
• generate data packets encoding the audio content generated by the participants associated with the two or more microphones;
• and
• transmit the data packets via the networking port for the conference call, wherein:
• each data packet identifies at least one participant contributing to the audio content encoded in the data packet;
• the processor is adapted to process data packets from the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• and
• at least one data packet from one of the one or more other telecommunication devices comprises:
• audio content generated by one or more identifiable participants, each identifiable participant associated with a corresponding microphone connected to the one of the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• and
• identification of each of the one or more identifiable participants.

A telecommunication device comprising:

• a networking port adapted to connect the telecommunication device with one or more other telecommunication devices to establish a conference call including the telecommunication device and the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• two or more microphone ports adapted to connect the telecommunication device with two or more microphones, wherein each microphone:
• is co-located with the telecommunication device;
• is individually identifiable by the telecommunication device;
• is associated with an identifiable participant co-located with the microphone;
• and
• is adapted to transmit audio content generated by the associated participant to the telecommunication device;
• and
• a processor adapted to:
• generate data packets encoding the audio content generated by the participants associated with the two or more microphones;
• and
• transmit the data packets via the networking port for the conference call, wherein:
• each data packet identifies at least one participant contributing to the audio content encoded in the data packet;
• the two or more microphone ports are connected wirelessly to the two or more microphones;
• the telecommunication device and the two or more microphones are compatible with BLUETOOTH® technology;
• and
• each microphone has a unique BLUETOOTH® ID that is associated with the associated participant at least for the duration of the participant's participation in the conference call.

A telecommunication device comprising:

• a networking port adapted to connect the telecommunication device with one or more other telecommunication devices to establish a conference call including the telecommunication device and the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• two or more microphone ports adapted to connect the telecommunication device with two or more microphones, wherein each microphone:
• is co-located with the telecommunication device;
• is individually identifiable by the telecommunication device;
• is associated with an identifiable participant co-located with the microphone;
• and
• is adapted to transmit audio content generated by the associated participant to the telecommunication device;
• and
• a processor adapted to:
• generate data packets encoding the audio content generated by the participants associated with the two or more microphones;
• and
• transmit the data packets via the networking port for the conference call, wherein:
• each data packet identifies at least one participant contributing to the audio content encoded in the data packet;
• and
• the telecommunication device further comprises a radio-frequency ID (RFID) reader adapted to read information off a proximately presented RFID tag of an identifiable participant in order to associate one of the two or more microphones with the identifiable participant.

A method for a telecommunication device, the method comprising:

• connecting the telecommunication device with one or more other telecommunication devices to establish a conference call including the telecommunication device and the one or more other telecommunication devices;
• connecting the telecommunication device with two or more microphones, wherein each microphone:
• is co-located with the telecommunication device;
• is individually identifiable by the telecommunication device;
• is associated with a participant identifiable by a participant ID;
• and
• is adapted to transmit audio content generated by the associated participant to the telecommunication device;
• generating data packets encoding the audio content generated by the participants associated with the two or more microphones, wherein:
• each data packet identifies at least one participant contributing to the audio content encoded in the data packet;
• and
• each data packet comprises the participant IDs of one or more participants in order to enable identification of the one or more participants;
• and
• transmitting the data packets for the conference call.