To set up a conference call which includes two, three or more participants, when
the participating residential gateways (RGs) lack the necessary capability, a call
agent designates a capable residential gateway RG, such as an embedded or stand-alone
multi-media terminal adapter (eMTA or MTA) or a cable modem voice (CM), to serve
as a residential conference mixer (RCM). The call agent routes outbound voice traffic
from the participating RGs to the RCM, which mixes the traffic from the RGs participating
in the conference call and directs the mixed voice traffic to the participating
RGs. The call agent monitors the RGs for information useful to determine availability
for conferencing.
