Determining availability of participants or techniques for computer-based communication
First Claim
1. A method of establishing a computer-based communications session involving a user of a computer, said method comprising:
- determining the availability of a potential participant in the communications session; and
according to the determined availability, displaying information on a display screen of the computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embodiment of a method of establishing a computer-based communications session involving a user of a computer includes determining the availability of a potential participant in the communications session. According to the determined availability, information may be displayed on a display screen of the computer. An embodiment of a system for computer-based communication includes a display screen, means for determining the availability of a potential participant in a computer-based communications session, and means for, according to the determined availability, displaying information on the display screen. The means for determining availability and means for displaying may include a communications aggregation program stored on a storage medium within the system. A computer-usable carrier medium may include program instructions executable for implementing the method, and/or a data structure including availability information.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of establishing a computer-based communications session involving a user of a computer, said method comprising:
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determining the availability of a potential participant in the communications session; and
according to the determined availability, displaying information on a display screen of the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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- 9. A method of configuring computer-based communication, said method comprising obtaining availability information indicating the availability of a user of the computer for communication using each of multiple communications applications.
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13. A system for computer-based communication, said system comprising:
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a display screen;
means for determining the availability of a potential participant in a computer-based communications session; and
means for, according to the determined availability, displaying information on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising:
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first program instructions executable on a computer for determining the availability of a potential participant in a computer-based communications session; and
second program instructions executable on the computer for, according to the determined availability, displaying information on a display screen of an initiating computer used by an initiator of the communications session. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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- 23. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising a data structure storing information indicating availability, with respect to each of multiple communications applications, of a potential participant in a computer-based communications session.
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28. A method of establishing a computer-based communications session involving a user of a computer, said method comprising:
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receiving from the user notification of a desired communications application to the used for the communications session;
determining the availability of a potential participant in the communications session; and
if the potential participant is available using the desired communications application, retrieving a participant identifier effective to identify the participant to the communications application. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification