Providing collaborative services with content

• US 20030070176A1
• Filed: 10/10/2001
• Published: 04/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cornelius, Aaron, Parker, Cameron, Fitzgerald, Margaret F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,379,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

Systems and methods for integrating collaborative services with content. Collaboration services are provided to a user in the context of content such that the user may collaborate with other contacts or users within the context of the content. The collaborative services are accessed through a pane or window that initially displays a list of experts and peers as well as frequently asked questions links, availability data and configuration data. When a contact is selected, more details about the selected contact are provided to the user including a contact block that indicates how the user may collaborate with the selected contact. The contact block identifies modes of communication such as e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, threads, telephone, and the like. When a mode of communication is selected, the user may collaborate with the selected contact. The context of the content is often supplied to the selected contact to improve the collaboration.

Claims

1. In a system that includes contacts such as peer contacts and expert contacts that are associated with a course, wherein content of the course is delivered to the contacts over a network, a method for integrating collaborative services with the content of the course such that users may collaborate in the context of the course'"'"'s content, the method comprising:

providing a collaborate pane to a user such that the content is not displaced from the user;

selecting a contact from the collaborate pane, wherein one or more contacts are displayed in a list in the collaborate pane;

providing the user with a contact block in the collaborate pane, wherein the contact block identifies one or more modes of communication that are available for collaboration with the selected contact; and

collaborating with the selected contact over a particular mode of communication that is selected by the user from the contact block, wherein the collaboration over the particular mode of communication occurs within the context of the content.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of providing a collaborate pane does not hide the content from the user such that the collaborate pane is in the content'"'"'s context.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of selecting a contact from the collaborate pane further comprises acts of:

displaying expert contacts in an expert portion of the list in the collaborate pane, wherein the expert contacts are dynamically retrieved from a remote server; and

displaying peer contacts in a peer portion of the list in the collaborate pane, wherein the peer contacts are dynamically retrieved from a remote server.

4. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein the act of selecting a contact from the collaborate pane further comprises an act of displaying a status for each expert contact and for each peer contact, wherein each status affects a decision of the user to collaborate with that contact.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising an act of providing a navigation section in the collaborate pane, wherein the navigation section provides a collaboration context to the user that includes details about data displayed in the collaborate pane.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising an act of providing an availability section in the collaborate pane, wherein the availability section allows the user to select a status to be displayed to other contacts and to provide profile data that is available to other contacts.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising an act of displaying a details state that corresponds to a particular contact that is selected by the user, wherein the details state includes the contact block and wherein the details state provides profile data about the particular contact to the user.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, further comprising an act of displaying a communication state that corresponds to the particular mode of communication selected by the user from the contact block.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein a reference to the content of the course is provided to the selected contact over the particular mode of communication without input from the user.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more modes of communication comprise:

e-mail;

instant messaging;

telephone;

discussion threads; and

video conferencing.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising an act of providing a frequently asked questions section in the collaborate pane, wherein the frequently asked questions section comprises:

a peer link that provides access to frequently asked questions that are related to the content being displayed; and

an expert link that is only provided to expert contacts, wherein the expert contacts may edit the frequently asked questions.

12. In a system including content that is delivered to a user over a network such as the Internet, wherein the content is also delivered to contacts including peers and experts, a method for a user to collaborate with peers and experts within a context of the content, the method comprising:

providing a collaborate pane to the user without displacing the content, wherein the user accesses collaborative services through the collaborate pane;

displaying a list section in the collaborate pane, wherein the list section includes an expert portion and a peer portion and wherein the expert portion and the peer portion display one or more contacts;

selecting a contact from the list section, wherein the contact is either an expert or a peer;

displaying a details state for the selected contact in the list section, wherein the details state includes a contact block providing one or more modes of communication that available between the user and the selected contact;

selecting a mode of communication from the contact block, wherein the user is able to collaborate with the selected contact using the mode of communication within the context of the content.

13. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of displaying a list section further comprises one or more of:

displaying a title section in the collaborate pane that informs the user of a purpose of the collaborate pane;

displaying a frequently asked questions section in the collaborate pane that provides a link to frequently asked questions;

displaying an availability section in the collaborate pane, wherein the availability section includes;

a user status that allows the user to select a status to be reflected to other contacts; and

a profile configuration that stores profile data of the user; and

displaying a navigation section in the collaborate pane.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the act of displaying a frequently asked questions section further comprises:

displaying a link to frequently asked questions for both peers and experts; and

displaying an expert link only to experts such that the experts may edit the frequently asked questions, wherein only experts view the expert link.

15. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of selecting a contact from the list section further comprises and act of searching for a contact.

16. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of searching for a contact further comprises searching according to one or more of a first name, a last name, an alias, a status, and an area of expertise.

17. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of displaying a detail state of the selected contact in the list section further comprises:

an act of displaying one or more modes of communications, wherein the modes of communication comprise;

e-mail;

instant messaging;

video communication;

threads; and

telephone; and

an act of displaying profile data for the selected contact.

18. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of selecting a mode of communication from the contact block further comprises an act of pre-populating a portion of the mode of communication with a subject that comprises one or more of a URL, a course title, a course topic, and a course page title, wherein the subject relates to the content and wherein the URL allows the user to navigate to the content.

19. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the act of displaying a list section in the collaborate pane further comprises an act of dynamically retrieving and displaying the contacts in the peer portion and in the expert portion of the list section of the collaborate pane.

20. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the contacts displayed in the peer portion and in the expert portion of the list section are owned by a provider of the content.

21. In a system including an online course that provides content to peers and experts over a network such as the Internet, a method for providing collaborative services that permit the peers and the experts to collaborate within a context of the online course, the method comprising:

causing a collaborate pane to be displayed in the context of the online course, wherein the online course is not hidden from the user'"'"'s view and wherein the collaborate pane includes a list section;

dynamically retrieving contacts from a remote server

displaying the dynamically retrieved contacts to the user in a list section;

retrieving profile data that corresponds to a contact selected by the user from either the expert portion or the peer portion; and

displaying a details state of the selected contact to the user in the list section, wherein the details state displays the profile data of the selected contact and wherein the details state includes a contact block that identifies one or more modes of communication through which the user may collaborate with the selected contact.

22. A method as defined in claim 21, further comprising an act of displaying a conversation state when the user selects a particular mode of communication from the cone or more modes of communication in the contact block.

23. A method as defined in claim 22, wherein the conversation state provides fields that correspond to the particular mode of communication, further comprising an act of pre-populating a field with a subject, the subject comprising one or more of a URL, a course topic, a course title, and a course page title, wherein the subject identifiers a particular portion of the online course and wherein the URL allows a user to navigate to the content.

24. A method as defined in claim 22, wherein the conversation state comprises one or more of e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, telephone, and threads.

25. A method as defined in claim 21, further comprising an act of displaying, in the collaborate pane, one or more of:

a title section;

a navigation section;

a frequently asked questions section; and

an availability section, wherein the availability section includes;

a user status that allows the user to select a user status that is reflected to other contacts; and

a profile configuration that allows the user to provide profile data that is made available to other contacts.

26. A method as defined in claim 25, wherein the act of displaying a frequently asked questions section further comprises:

displaying a link to frequently asked questions that is accessible by peers and experts; and

displaying an expert link only to experts such that the experts may edit the frequently asked questions.

27. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the contacts comprise expert contacts and peer contacts, further comprising a step for displaying the dynamically retrieved expert contacts in an expert portion of the list section and a step for displaying the dynamically retrieved peer contacts in a peer portion of the list section.

28. A method as defined in claim 27, wherein the act of displaying the dynamically retrieved expert contacts and the dynamically retrieved peer contacts further comprises an act of displaying a status for the corresponding experts and peers that are displayed in the list section.

29. A method as defined in claim 21, further comprising an act of collaborating with the selected contact over the particular mode of communication within a context of the online course.

30. A method as defined in claim 27, further comprising an act of displaying the expert contacts and the peer contacts to the user when the collaboration with the selected contact is finished such that another contact may be selected by the user.

31. In a system that includes contacts such as peer contacts and expert contacts that are associated with a course, wherein content of the course is delivered to the contacts over a network, a computer program product for implementing a method for integrating collaborative services with the content of the course such that the user may collaborate in the content'"'"'s context, the computer program product comprising:

computer executable instructions having computer executable instructions for performing the method, the method comprising;

providing a collaborate pane to a user in the content'"'"'s context;

selecting a contact from the collaborate pane, wherein one or more contacts are displayed in the collaborate pane;

providing the user with a contact block in the collaborate pane, wherein the contact block identifies one or more modes of communication that are available for use with the identified contact; and

collaborating with the selected contact over a particular mode of communication that is selected by the user from the contact block, wherein the collaboration over the particular mode of communication occurs within the content'"'"'s context.

32. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, wherein the act of providing a collaborate pane does not hide the content from the user such that the collaborate pane is in the content'"'"'s context.

33. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, wherein the act of selecting a contact from the collaborate pane further comprises acts of:

displaying expert contacts in an expert portion of the collaborate pane, wherein the expert contacts are dynamically retrieved from a remote server; and

displaying peer contacts in a peer portion of the collaborate pane, wherein the peer contacts are dynamically retrieved from a remote server.

34. A computer program product as defined in claim 33, wherein the act of selecting a contact from the collaborate pane further comprises an act of displaying a status for each expert contact and for each peer contact, wherein each status affects a decision of the user to collaborate with that contact.

35. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, further comprising an act of providing a navigation section in the collaborate pane, wherein the navigation section provides a collaboration context to the user that includes details about data displayed in the collaborate pane.

36. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, further comprising an act of providing an availability section in the collaborate pane, wherein the availability section allows the user to select a status to be displayed to other contacts and to provide profile data that is available to other contacts.

37. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, further comprising an act of displaying a details state that corresponds to a particular contact that is selected by the user, wherein the details state includes the contact block and wherein the details state provides profile data about the particular contact to the user.

38. A computer program product as defined in claim 37, further comprising an act of displaying a communication state that corresponds to the particular mode of communication selected by the user from the contact block.

39. A computer program product as defined in claim 38, wherein the content of the course is provided to the selected contact over the particular mode of communication without input from the user.

40. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, wherein the one or more modes of communication comprise:

e-mail;

instant messaging;

discussion threads; and

video conferencing.

41. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, further comprising an act of providing a frequently asked questions section in the collaborate pane, wherein the frequently asked questions section comprises:

a peer link that provides peer contacts with access to frequently asked questions that are related to the content being displayed; and

an expert link that is only provided to expert contacts, wherein the expert contacts may edit the frequently asked questions.