Network-originated group call
First Claim
1. Conference calling method in which members for participation in a group voice conference are predetermined and where at least one member is not presently available for said participation in said group voice conference, comprising the steps of:
- periodically checking for availability of said members on an automatic basis until said members are available, and establishing said group voice conference once said members are available.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A user of a terminal wanting to establish a conference call notices for instance through a presence service that the group or one or more members of a group are not available and requests a group call server to keep track of the presence status of the members of the group and to originate a conference call once all of the members are present. Rules may be established to define under what circumstances the call should be started and which rules may include making the call when every member or a certain percentage of the group is available, how long the call attempt is effective, or the time the request is effective.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. Conference calling method in which members for participation in a group voice conference are predetermined and where at least one member is not presently available for said participation in said group voice conference, comprising the steps of:
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periodically checking for availability of said members on an automatic basis until said members are available, and establishing said group voice conference once said members are available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A terminal device capable of enabling a user to engage in voice communications with users of other terminals over a communications network, comprising:
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means, responsive to presence information about said users of other terminals from said network, for displaying same to said users;
means for receiving inputs from said user into said terminal indicative of members selected by said user for participation in a group voice conference; and
means for periodically checking for availability of said members on an automatic basis until said members are available and requesting a server to establish said group voice conference once said members are available, or sending a service request to said server to periodically check for said availability of said members on an automatic basis and to establish said group voice conference once said members are available. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A server, comprising:
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means responsive to a service request from a terminal indicative of members for participation in a group voice conference, for periodically checking for availability of said members on an automatic basis until said members are available; and
means for establishing said group voice conference once said members are available. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A communications system, comprising:
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a server, responsive to a service request from a terminal, for periodically checking on an automatic basis for availability of members indicated by said service request for participation in a group voice conference until said members are available, and for establishing said group voice conference once said members are available; and
a plurality of terminals, accessible by said members, for use in participating in said group voice conference over a network. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium for storage in a physical device, characterized in that
the program is for enabling a presence user to interact with a presence system either directly or through a server for periodically checking on an automatic basis for availability of members indicted by a service request for participation in a group voice conference until said members are available.
Specification