Method of, and system for, webcasting with just-in-time resource provisioning, automated telephone signal acquistion and streaming, and fully-automated event archival
First Claim
1. Apparatus, comprising:
- a first subsystem accessible over a computer network and including code for enabling an entity to reserve an event, to obtain an event identifier, an access code, and an attendee URL, and to initiate storage of an event information file associated with the event;
a second subsystem connectable to a telephone network and including code for enabling the entity to initiate the event, without access to the event information file, by entering the event identifier and access code, and code for generating a data stream from an audio signal derived from a user'"'"'s speech; and
a third subsystem accessible over the computer network and including code responsive to a client browser requesting the attendee URL for returning to the client browser a data structure including a stream URL, wherein the stream URL enables a streaming media player to obtain the data stream.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention implements a multimedia business communications platform that enables conference casting over a network. End users or so-called “audience members” participate in conference casts from anywhere on the Internet or behind an enterprise firewall using a standard Web browser running a streaming media player. The conference platform typically includes a number of subsystems: a Web reservation subsystem, a voice server subsystem, a content storage subsystem, a monitoring data subsystem, an attendee access subsystem, and an archive subsystem. Web reservation subsystem provides a mechanism that enables an entity to make an event reservation. Web reservation subsystem typically includes a database and an associated database management system. Voice server subsystem validates a user and converts an incoming telephone signal (i.e., the conference call) to an output data stream. Attendee access subsystem responds to attendee requests and returns information (e.g., a data structure such as a stream metafile) that directs an attendee'"'"'s streaming media player on how to join the conference cast. Content storage subsystem is used to manage event information and, under the control of the archive subsystem, to archive the event files. The monitoring data subsystem comprises a set of monitoring agents distributed throughout the network. Using these components, the system implements just-in-time resource provisioning, automated signal acquisition and streaming, and automated archiving upon event completion.
91 Citations
42 Claims
-
1. Apparatus, comprising:
-
a first subsystem accessible over a computer network and including code for enabling an entity to reserve an event, to obtain an event identifier, an access code, and an attendee URL, and to initiate storage of an event information file associated with the event;
a second subsystem connectable to a telephone network and including code for enabling the entity to initiate the event, without access to the event information file, by entering the event identifier and access code, and code for generating a data stream from an audio signal derived from a user'"'"'s speech; and
a third subsystem accessible over the computer network and including code responsive to a client browser requesting the attendee URL for returning to the client browser a data structure including a stream URL, wherein the stream URL enables a streaming media player to obtain the data stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. In a conference system including a Web-based reservation system accessible over a computer network for enabling an entity to reserve an event and to obtain an attendee URL, the improvement comprising:
-
a set of one or more voice server subsystems each connectable to a telephone network, wherein each voice server subsystem includes a set of one or more voice servers, each voice server having a storage disk associated therewith, a telephone interface for receiving an audio signal, an encoder for generating a data stream from the audio signal, and code (a) for validating a user-entered access code, (b) for writing the data stream to the storage disk, and (c) initiating an upload of the data stream from the disk upon the occurrence of a given interruption in the audio signal; and
a set of one or more attendee access subsystems each connectable to the computer network and including code responsive to a client browser requesting the attendee URL for returning a data structure including a stream URL at which a streaming media player associated with the client browser can obtain the data stream;
a set of one or more archive subsystems each connectable to the computer network and including code (a) for creating a directory for the event, (b) for storing in the directory an event information file, (c) for creating an archive of the event; and
(d) for storing the archive in the directory for subsequent access. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method of conference calling, comprising:
-
reserving an event (a) by providing an entity with an event identifier, access code and attendee URL, (b) by generating an event information file, and (c) creating a directory associated with the event in which the event information file is stored;
initiating the event (a) by verifying, without access to the directory, that an access code entered by a host is a given function of the event identifier entered by the host; and
(b) upon verification, encoding speech data into a data stream;
enabling access to the data stream (a) by returning to a client browser launched to the attendee URL a data structure including a stream URL at which the data stream can be obtained; and
generating an archive upon completion of the event. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-
-
38. A method of conference calling wherein a given event has been reserved by providing an event with an event identifier, access code and attendee URL, comprising:
-
initiating the event at one or more locations (a) by verifying an access code entered by a host is a given function of the event identifier entered by the host; and
(b) upon verification, encoding speech data into a data stream;
enabling access to the data stream (a) by returning to a client browser launched to the attendee URL a data structure including one or more stream URLs at which the data stream can be obtained;
as the event progresses, storing a copy of each data stream in a local data store;
upon interruption of the speech data, transferring a copy of the stored data stream to a central storage; and
upon completion of the event, automatically generating an archive. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
-
Specification