Techniques for managing conference schedules using groups

• US 20060045029A1
• Filed: 09/01/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ethier, Randall, Bieselin, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,876,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties

Abstract

A method and apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons includes receiving group data that indicates persons in a first group. Availability data is received from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population of persons that includes the persons from the first group. Quorum data is received that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group; thus the first group is a called a “representative group.” A proposed time interval that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data is determined for the particular conference.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising the steps of:

receiving group data that indicates a first plurality of persons in a first group;

receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population plurality of persons that includes the first plurality of persons;

receiving quorum data that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group, whereby the first group is a representative group; and

determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, said step of receiving availability data further comprising receiving at least one of scheduled availability data based on data in a shared calendar database and current availability data based on presence data.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, said step of receiving availability data further comprising receiving availability data that is not derived based on placing a plurality of telephone calls to the first plurality of persons in the first group.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining at least one of a plurality of available persons that satisfy the quorum at the proposed time, one or more locations for the plurality of available persons, an estimated cost for the particular conference, a list of a minimum number of languages to carry on the particular conference among the plurality of available persons, and a measure of deviation of the proposed time from normal local working hours for the plurality of available persons.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprising the steps of

determining a plurality of combinations of persons that satisfy the quorum;

and

selecting a particular combination from the plurality of combinations based on a conference preference criterion.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein said conference preference criterion is based on at least one of available date, location, language, local time of day, and travel cost to attend the particular conference associated with each combination of the plurality of combinations.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising the step of receiving from a user preference data indicating said conference preference criterion.

8. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein said conference preference criterion is that the particular combination is associated with a particular time interval that is earlier than a time interval associated with any other combination of the plurality of combinations.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, said step of receiving the quorum data further comprising receiving the quorum data indicating that the quorum for the particular conference includes any one person in the first group.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

said step of receiving group data further comprises receiving group data that indicates a plurality of groups that include the first group and a second plurality of persons in a second group different from the plurality of persons in the first group; and

said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the quorum for the particular conference includes a particular number of persons from the second group.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is zero, whereby the second group is an optional group.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is all persons of the second group, whereby the second group is a mandatory group.

13. The method as recited in claim 10, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is at least one and less than all persons of the second group, whereby the second group is a representative group.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising sending to the second plurality of persons in the second group alert data that indicates the proposed time interval for the particular conference and invites the second plurality of persons in the second group to join the particular conference.

15. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein:

the method further comprises the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, said step of determining the proposed time further comprising, if it is determined that both the quorum and the limit can not be satisfied, then performing the steps of:

determining which of the plurality of groups is a blocking group that is most responsible for not satisfying the limit; and

displaying blocking data that indicates the blocking group for the particular conference.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein:

said step of determining which of the plurality of groups is a blocking group further comprises determining which person of the blocking group is a blocking person; and

said step of displaying the blocking data further comprises displaying blocking data that indicates the blocking person.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the method further comprises the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, said property of the particular conference including at least one of a date, a time of day, a location, a common language, and a travel cost.

20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein:

said step of receiving limit data further comprises receiving limit data that indicates a plurality of specific dates for the particular conference, whereby the particular conference is a multi-date conference; and

a combination of persons satisfies the limit if eachperson in the combination is available for more than one date of the plurality of specific dates for the multi-date conference.

21. The method as recited in claim 10, said step of receiving quorum data further comprising receiving quorum data that indicates a Boolean expression for combining a minimum number of persons from each group of the plurality of groups.

22. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving group data that indicates a first plurality of persons in a first group;

receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population plurality of persons that includes the first plurality of persons;

receiving quorum data that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group, whereby the first group is a representative group; and

determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data.

23. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, said step of receiving availability data further comprising receiving at least one of scheduled availability data based on data in a shared calendar database and current availability data based on presence data.

24. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of determining at least one of a plurality of available persons that satisfy the quorum at the proposed time, one or more locations for the plurality of available persons, an estimated cost for the particular conference, a list of a minimum number of languages to carry on the particular conference among the plurality of available persons, and a measure of deviation of the proposed time from normal local working hours for the plurality of available persons.

25. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprising the steps of

determining a plurality of combinations of persons that satisfy the quorum;

and

selecting a particular combination from the plurality of combinations based on a conference preference criterion.

26. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said conference preference criterion is based on at least one of available date, location, language, local time of day, and travel cost to attend the particular conference associated with each combination of the plurality of combinations.

27. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 25, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving from a user preference data indicating said conference preference criterion.

28. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein:

execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

29. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 28, said property of the particular conference including at least one of a date, a time of day, a location, a common language, and a travel cost.

30. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein:

said step of receiving group data further comprises receiving group data that indicates a plurality of groups that include the first group and a second plurality of persons in a second group different from the plurality of persons in the first group; and

said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the quorum for the particular conference includes a particular number of persons from the second group.

31. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 30, wherein:

execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

32. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 31, said step of determining the proposed time further comprising, if it is determined that both the quorum and the limit can not be satisfied, then performing the steps of:

determining which of the plurality of groups is a blocking group that is most responsible for not satisfying the limit; and

displaying blocking data that indicates the blocking group for the particular conference.

33. An apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising:

means for receiving group data that indicates a first plurality of persons in a first group;

means for receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population plurality of persons that includes the first plurality of persons;

means for receiving quorum data that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group, whereby the first group is a representative group; and

means for determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data.

34. An apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising:

a network interface that is coupled to a network for communicating one or more packet flows therewith;

one or more processors; and

one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to carry out the steps of;

receiving group data that indicates a first plurality of persons in a first group;

receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about availability for a conference of a population plurality of persons that includes the first plurality of persons;

receiving quorum data that indicates that a quorum for a particular conference includes any one or more persons in the first group and less than all persons in the first group, whereby the first group is a representative group; and

determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference that satisfies the quorum based on the group data, the availability data, and the quorum data.

35. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, said step of receiving availability data further comprising receiving at least one of scheduled availability data based on data in a shared calendar database and current availability data based on presence data.

36. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, said step of receiving availability data further comprising receiving availability data that is not derived based on placing a plurality of telephone calls to the first plurality of persons in the first group.

37. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, wherein executing the one or more stored sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to carry out the step of determining at least one of a plurality of available persons that satisfy the quorum at the proposed time, one or more locations for the plurality of available persons, an estimated cost for the particular conference, a list of a minimum number of languages to carry on the particular conference among the plurality of available persons, and a measure of deviation of the proposed time from normal local working hours for the plurality of available persons.

38. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprising the steps of

determining a plurality of combinations of persons that satisfy the quorum;

and

selecting a particular combination from the plurality of combinations based on a conference preference criterion.

39. The apparatus as recited in claim 38, wherein said conference preference criterion is based on at least one of available date, location, language, local time of day, and travel cost to attend the particular conference associated with each combination of the plurality of combinations.

40. The apparatus as recited in claim 38, wherein executing the one or more stored sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to carry out the step of receiving from a user preference data indicating said conference preference criterion.

41. The apparatus as recited in claim 38, wherein said conference preference criterion is that the particular combination is associated with a particular time interval that is earlier than a time interval associated with any other combination of the plurality of combinations.

42. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, said step of receiving the quorum data further comprising receiving the quorum data indicating that the quorum for the particular conference includes any one person in the first group.

43. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, wherein:

said step of receiving group data further comprises receiving group data that indicates a plurality of groups that include the first group and a second plurality of persons in a second group different from the plurality of persons in the first group; and

said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the quorum for the particular conference includes a particular number of persons from the second group.

44. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is zero, whereby the second group is an optional group.

45. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is all persons of the second group, whereby the second group is a mandatory group.

46. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, said step of receiving quorum data further comprises receiving quorum data that indicates that the particular number of persons of the second group is at least one and less than all persons of the second group, whereby the second group is a representative group.

47. The apparatus as recited in claim 44, wherein executing the one or more stored sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to carry out the step of sending to the second plurality of persons in the second group alert data that indicates the proposed time interval for the particular conference and invites the second plurality of persons in the second group to join the particular conference.

48. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, wherein:

executing the one or more stored sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to carry out the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

49. The apparatus as recited in claim 48, said step of determining the proposed time further comprising, if it is determined that both the quorum and the limit can not be satisfied, then performing the steps of:

determining which of the plurality of groups is a blocking group that is most responsible for not satisfying the limit; and

displaying blocking data that indicates the blocking group for the particular conference.

50. The apparatus as recited in claim 49, wherein:

said step of determining which of the plurality of groups is a blocking group further comprises determining which person of the blocking group is a blocking person; and

said step of displaying the blocking data further comprises displaying blocking data that indicates the blocking person.

51. The apparatus as recited in claim 34, wherein:

executing the one or more stored sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to carry out the step of receiving limit data that indicates a limit for a property of the particular conference; and

said step of determining the proposed time interval further comprises determining whether both the quorum and the limit can be satisfied.

52. The apparatus as recited in claim 51, said property of the particular conference including at least one of a date, a time of day, a location, a common language, and a travel cost.

53. The apparatus as recited in claim 51, wherein:

said step of receiving limit data further comprises receiving limit data that indicates a plurality of specific dates for the particular conference, whereby the particular conference is a multi-date conference; and

a combination of persons satisfies the limit if each person in the combination is available for more than one date of the plurality of specific dates for the multi-date conference.

54. The apparatus as recited in claim 43, said step of receiving quorum data further comprising receiving quorum data that indicates a Boolean expression for combining a minimum number of persons from each group of the plurality of groups.