Methods and systems for configuring and providing conference calls
First Claim
1. A method for providing a conference call, comprising:
- detecting a conference call event that was previously configured by a subscriber user;
identifying participant users associated with the conference call event;
contacting the participant users;
receiving a response from the participant users; and
establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the detecting and identifying steps is performed without user intervention.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for automatically providing conference calls are disclosed. In one aspect of the invention, methods and systems detect a conference call event that was previously configured by a subscriber user and identify participant users associated with the conference call event. Once identified, each participant user is contacted and a response is received from each of the users. Based on the received responses, a conference call is established between the participant users and the subscriber user. In one aspect of the invention, at least one of the detecting and identifying steps are performed without user intervention.
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Citations
90 Claims
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1. A method for providing a conference call, comprising:
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detecting a conference call event that was previously configured by a subscriber user;
identifying participant users associated with the conference call event;
contacting the participant users;
receiving a response from the participant users; and
establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the detecting and identifying steps is performed without user intervention. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for providing a conference call, the method performed by a server comprising:
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detecting a conference call event previously configured by a subscriber user that indicates when a conference call should be established between the subscriber user and participant users;
collecting contact information for the participant users;
providing a message including the contact information to a conference server that is configured to instruct a bridge to establish the conference call between the users by calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message; and
receiving a response message from the conference server including information associated with the conference call and at least one participant user. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for participating in a conference call automatically established by at least one or more communication entity, the method comprising:
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scheduling a conference call at a predetermined time using a calendar application, wherein scheduling includes identifying participant users that are to participate in the conference call; and
at the predetermined time;
receiving an indication that a conference call has been configured in accordance with the scheduled conference call, receiving a indication that at least one participant user has either joined or declined to join the conference call, and during the conference call, receiving an indication that another participant user has ended communications with the conference call when that participant user terminates a connection with a bridge that establishes the conference call in accordance with instructions provided by a server that executes the calendar application.
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40. A method for providing a conference call, comprising:
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receiving a message from a first server including instructions for establishing a conference call between participant users and a subscriber user that previously scheduled the conference call with a second server, wherein the second server automatically initiates configuration of the conference call based on the subscriber user'"'"'s schedule by providing to the first server contact information for the participant users and the message includes the contact information;
calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message;
receiving a response from the participant users, wherein the response reflects whether the participant user has answered, accepted, not answered, or declined to accept the call; and
establishing a conference call between the users based on the response received from the participant users.
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41. A system for providing a conference call, comprising:
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means for detecting a conference call event that was previously configured by a subscriber user;
means for identifying participant users associated with the conference call event;
means for contacting the participant users;
means for receiving a response from the participant users; and
means for establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the means for detecting and means for identifying perform their functions without user intervention. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A server for providing a conference call, comprising:
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means for detecting a conference call event previously configured by the subscriber user that indicates that a conference call should be established between a subscriber user and participant users;
means for collecting contact information for the participant users;
means for providing a message including the contact information to a conference server that is configured to instruct a bridge to establish a conference call between the users by calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message; and
means for receiving a response message from the conference server including information associated with the conference call and at least one participant user. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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79. A system for participating in a conference call automatically established by at least one communication entity, the system comprising:
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means for scheduling a conference call for a predetermined date using a calendar application, wherein the means for scheduling identifies participant users that are to participate in the conference call; and
means for receiving, on the predetermined date, an indication that a conference call has been configured in accordance with the scheduled conference call, means for receiving a indication that at least one participant user has either joined or declined to join the conference call, and means for receiving, during the conference call, an indication that another participant user has ended communications with the conference call when that participant user terminates a connection with a bridge that establishes the conference call in accordance with instructions provided by a server that executes the calendar application.
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80. A conference bridge for providing a conference call, comprising:
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means for receiving a message from a first server including instructions for establishing a conference call between participant users and a subscriber user that previously scheduled the conference call with a second server, wherein the second server automatically initiates configuration of the conference call based on the subscriber user'"'"'s schedule by providing to the first server contact information for the participant users and the message includes the contact information;
means for calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message;
means for receiving a response from the participant users, wherein the responses reflect whether the participant user has answered, accepted, not answered, or declined to accept the call; and
means for establishing a conference call between the users based on the received responses.
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81. A system for providing conference calls, comprising:
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a first server for detecting a conference call event previously configured by a subscriber user and generating a first message based on the event, wherein the first message includes telephone numbers for a plurality of participant users identified by the subscriber user;
a second server for receiving the first message from the first server and generating a second message based on the first message, wherein the second message includes instructions for configuring a conference call and the telephone numbers; and
a conference bridge for receiving the second message, extracting the telephone numbers from the second message, and calling the participant users using the telephone numbers, and establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user, wherein the subscriber user accesses the first server to schedule conference calls for future dates and the first server, second server, and conference bridge automatically attempt to establish the conference calls when the future dates arrive.
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82. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing, when executed by a processor, a method for providing a conference call, comprising:
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detecting a conference call event that was previously configured by a subscriber user;
identifying participant users associated with the conference call event;
contacting the participant users;
receiving responses from the participant users; and
establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the detecting and identifying steps is performed without user intervention.
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83. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing, when executed by a processor, a method for providing a conference call comprising:
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detecting a conference call event previously configured by the subscriber user that indicates that a conference call should be established between a subscriber user and participant users;
collecting contact information for the participant users;
providing a message including the contact information to a conference server that is configured to instruct a bridge to establish a conference call between the users by calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message; and
receiving a response message from the conference server including information associated with the conference call and at least one participant user.
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84. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing, when executed by a processor, a method for participating in a conference call automatically established by at least one communication entity, the method comprising:
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scheduling a conference call for a predetermined time using a calendar application, wherein scheduling includes identifying participant users that are to participate in the conference call; and
on the predetermined time;
receiving an indication that a conference call has been configured in accordance with the scheduled conference call, receiving a indication that at least one participant user has either joined or declined to join the conference call, and during the conference call, receiving an indication that another participant user has ended communications with the conference call when that participant user terminates a connection with a bridge that establishes the conference call in accordance with instructions provided by a server that executes the calendar application.
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85. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing, when executed by a processor, a method for providing a conference call, including:
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receiving a message from a first server including instructions for establishing a conference call between participant users and a subscriber user that previously scheduled the conference call with a second server, wherein the second server automatically initiates configuration of the conference call based on the subscriber user'"'"'s schedule by providing to the first server contact information for the participant users and the message includes the contact information;
calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message;
receiving responses from the participant users, wherein the responses reflect whether the participant user has answered, accepted, not answered, or declined to accept the call; and
establishing a conference call between the users based on the received responses.
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86. A method for providing a conference call, comprising:
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detecting a request to establish a conference call initiated by a subscriber user;
identifying participant users identified in the request;
contacting the participant users;
receiving a response from the participant users; and
establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the contacting, receiving, and establishing steps is performed without user intervention.
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87. A method for providing a conference call, the method performed by a server comprising:
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detecting a conference call event configured by a subscriber user that indicates a conference call to be established between the subscriber user and participant users;
collecting contact information for the participant users;
providing a message including the contact information to a conference server that is configured to instruct a bridge to establish the conference call between the users by calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message; and
receiving a response message from the conference server including information associated with the conference call and at least one participant user.
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88. A method for participating in a conference call automatically established by at least one or more communication entities, the method comprising:
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receiving an indication that a conference call has been configured in response to a user'"'"'s request to establish the conference call, receiving a indication that at least one participant user has either joined or declined to join the conference call, and during the conference call, receiving an indication that another participant user has ended communications with the conference call when that participant user terminates a connection with a bridge that establishes the conference call in accordance with instructions provided by a server.
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89. A method for providing a conference call, comprising:
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receiving a message from a first server including instructions for establishing a conference call between participant users and a subscriber user that schedules the conference call with a second server, wherein the second server automatically initiates configuration of the conference call by providing to the first server contact information for the participant users and the message includes the contact information;
calling the participant users using the contact information included in the message;
receiving a response from the participant users, wherein the response reflects whether the participant user has answered, accepted, not answered, or declined to accept the call; and
establishing a conference call between the users based on the response received from the participant users.
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90. A system for providing a conference call, comprising:
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means for detecting a conference call event that is configured by a subscriber user;
means for identifying participant users associated with the conference call event;
means for contacting the participant users;
means for receiving a response from the participant users; and
means for establishing a conference call between the participant users and the subscriber user based on the received responses, wherein at least one of the means for contacting, means for receiving, and means for identifying perform their functions without user intervention.
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Specification