A small-footprint hands-free speakerphone apparatus includes a
loudspeaker, at least one main microphone, at least one reference
microphone, and openings for receiving sound. The loudspeaker is disposed
within a speaker chamber. Each microphone is mounted in a microphone boot
formed by an acoustic opaque resilient material. Each main microphone may
be omni-directional or directional. Each reference microphone is
omni-directional. An opening is formed in front of each microphone for
receiving sound for the microphone. An opening is formed in back of each
directional main microphone for receiving sound and forming directivity
for the microphone. An opening is formed in the microphone boot for each
reference microphone to receive sound from the loudspeaker. An opening
may also be formed in the loudspeaker chamber for passing sound to the
reference microphone. The apparatus may include one or more interface
units to provide interface to external devices.