Abstract: A digital speech interpolation (DSI) system serves multiple PCM channels by multiplexing them to a single PCM signal, detecting the presence of speech on individual channels according to an adaptive power threshold, removing silent portions of the channel signals, and recombining them into a signal with fewer channels. A central echo canceler is provided between the DSI transmitter and the multiplexer, thus eliminating the need for a separate echo protection device at each terminal. The central echo canceler provides information to the speech detector enabling the speech dectector to avoid updating the adaptive power threshold when center clipping or double-talk occurs, thus preventing erratic speech detection performance.