Method and system for presence enhanced group management and communication
First Claim
1. A method to enhance group communication within a network using presence information, comprising:
- maintaining presence information associated with a group of terminals;
maintaining presence information associated with each member of the group of terminals; and
activating a group communication channel from a first member of the group of terminals to available terminals within the group of terminals, wherein availability is determined using presence information associated with the group of terminals and presence information associated with each member of the group of terminals.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method uses presence information to enhance group management functions. The presence enhanced group management allows sharing of information between group members, management of availability and contact information associated with the group members, and group/group member availability definitions having a variety of various meanings within the scope of a group definition. The presence enhanced group management functions allow groups and their associated presence information to function as mediators of all types of information between members of the group to include synchronization of calendars and task lists. Group based channels of communication are also facilitated to support message exchange between the group members.
404 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method to enhance group communication within a network using presence information, comprising:
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maintaining presence information associated with a group of terminals;
maintaining presence information associated with each member of the group of terminals; and
activating a group communication channel from a first member of the group of terminals to available terminals within the group of terminals, wherein availability is determined using presence information associated with the group of terminals and presence information associated with each member of the group of terminals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A presence enhanced group communication system, comprising:
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terminals coupled through a network to form a group; and
presence servers coupled to the network and adapted to maintain presence information associated with each of the terminals and adapted to maintain presence information associated with the group, the terminals comprising;
a group presence module adapted to communicate with the presence servers to maintain availability status of the group and each terminal within the group, wherein a group communication channel is established in response to the availability status. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile terminal wirelessly coupled to a network which includes a group of mobile terminals wirelessly coupled to the network, the mobile terminal comprising:
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a memory capable of storing at least one of a group presence module and a protocol module;
a processor coupled to the memory and configured by the group presence module to formulate an availability status associated with each member of the group of mobile terminals; and
a transceiver configured to facilitate content exchange with available members of the group, the available members being selected in accordance with their availability status. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a mobile terminal for establishing a group communication channel with a group of mobile terminals in a network by performing steps comprising:
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accumulating presence information associated with the group and each member of the group of mobile terminals;
determining availability of each member using the accumulated presence information;
displaying the availability of each member; and
creating the group communication channel in response to programmable rules of availability. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A server coupled to a network to facilitate presence based group communication, the server comprising:
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means for accumulating presence information relating to a group;
means for accumulating presence information relating to each member of the group;
means for providing the group presence and member presence information in response to requests received for the presence information; and
means for determining availability status of the group and each member of the group in response to programmable rules of availability received from one of the members of the group. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a server to facilitate group communication by performing steps comprising:
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accumulating presence information relating to a group;
accumulating presence information relating to each member of the group;
providing the group presence and member presence information in response to requests received for the presence information; and
determining availability status of the group and each member of the group in response to programmable rules of availability received from one of the members of the group. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method of managing presence information associated with a group to establish a communication channel with the group, comprising:
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activating an information field associated with the group;
monitoring presence information associated with the group;
determining an availability status of the group based on the presence information; and
communicating the information field to the group in response to its availability status. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification