A system and method for setting up a multi-party conference call in a
packet-switched radio telecommunications network in which a Gatekeeper
(GK) has established an on-going two-party call between a first party and
a second party. The first party sends an enhanced Facility message to the
GK that indicates a multi-party conference call is desired, and includes a
globally unique conference identity and a list of telephone numbers for
third parties to be joined. A Multipoint Controller (MC) provides an
Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Multipoint Processor (MP) to each of
the parties, and provides the IP addresses of the parties to the MP. The
MC then negotiates media sessions with each of the parties, and sends the
negotiation results to the MP. Each of the parties then sends its media
payload to the MP where the payloads are mixed and forwarded to the other
parties.
