Techniques for resolving conflicts in scheduling conferences
First Claim
1. A method for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a recorded commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data.
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Abstract
Techniques for scheduling a conference among multiple persons includes receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference. The conference request includes quorum data and limit data. The quorum data indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference. The limit data indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference, such as a limit on the date, time, location, language, or travel cost. The method also includes receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a recorded commitment of time for each person of a population. Also received is priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person is honored. A proposed time interval for the particular conference is determined based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data.
149 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a recorded commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data, including;
determining a conflicted person whose recorded commitment blocks the particular conference;
determining a priority of the recorded commitment based on the priority data;
determining whether the priority of the recorded commitment is lower than a priority of the particular conference by receiving echelon data that indicates at least one of whether a first organizer of the particular conference is at a higher echelon in the organization than is a second organizer for the recorded commitment, whether an attendee of the particular conference is at a higher echelon in the organization than are all attendees of a second conference for the recorded commitment whether the first organizer has determined that the priority of the recorded commitment is lower than the priority of the particular conference, and whether a priority associated with a token obtained by an organizer of the particular conference from a member of a higher echelon than the organizer is greater than the priority of the recorded commitment;
if it is determined that the priority of the recorded commitment is lower than the priority of the particular conference, then rendering the conflicted person available for the particular conference during a time interval of the recorded commitment;
determining whether the conflicted person becomes committed to the particular conference; and
if it is determined that the conflicted person becomes committed to the particular conference, then alerting an organizer for the recorded commitment that the conflicted person is breaking the recorded commitment.
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21. 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:
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receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising:
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means for receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
means for receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a recorded commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
means for receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
means for determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data.
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35. An apparatus for scheduling a conference among multiple persons, comprising:
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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, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of;
receiving a conference request to schedule a particular conference by receiving quorum data that indicates a quorum of persons to conduct the particular conference and receiving limit data that indicates a limit on a property of the particular conference;
receiving availability data from a shared database that includes information about a recorded commitment of time for each person of a population plurality of persons that includes all persons indicated in the quorum data;
receiving priority data that indicates an importance to an organization that a particular recorded commitment of a particular person of the population plurality of persons is honored; and
determining a proposed time interval for the particular conference based on the conference request and the availability data and the priority data. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification