RESERVING A TIME BLOCK IN A CALENDAR APPLICATION TO ACCOUNT FOR A TRAVEL TIME BETWEEN GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS OF APPOINTMENTS

• US 20080167938A1
• Filed: 12/28/2007
• Published: 07/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coughlin, Stephen J., Meisels, Adrienne C., Renner, W. Karl
• Granted Patent: US 8,712,810 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

Techniques are described for accounting for travel time in scheduling appointments in an electronic calendar. For example, a travel time between appointments may be identified and a time block may be reserved on a calendar application to account for such travel time. Geographic locations of adjacent appointments in a calendar may be determined and a route between the geographic locations also may be determined. A travel time associated with traveling the route between the geographic locations may be computed and the computed travel time may be compared to unscheduled time between the adjacent appointments in the calendar to determine whether the unscheduled time exceeds the travel time. If it is determined that the unscheduled time exceeds the travel time, a time block may be reserved on the calendar application to account for the travel time.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for identifying a travel time between appointments and reserving a time block on a calendar application to account for such travel time, the method comprising:

identifying a first appointment in a calendar application;

identifying a geographic location of the first appointment;

identifying a second appointment that occurs later in time than the first appointment in the calendar application;

identifying a geographic location of the second appointment;

identifying a route extending from the geographic location of the first appointment to the geographic location of the second appointment;

identifying a travel time associated with the route;

determining an amount of unscheduled time between the first appointment and the second appointment;

determining whether the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time; and

if it is determined that the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time, reserving a time block on the calendar application to account for the travel time.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein:

identifying the first appointment further includes identifying an ending time of the first appointment;

identifying the second appointment further includes identifying a starting time of the second appointment; and

determining the amount of unscheduled time includes subtracting the ending time of the first appointment from the starting time of the second appointment.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time by more than a threshold amount; and

if it is determined that unscheduled time exceeds the travel time by more than the threshold amount, providing a message that informs a user of the unscheduled time.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically setting, without user input, a reminder for the second appointment, the reminder being set for a specified time that precedes the starting time of the second appointment time by at least the travel time to the second appointment; and

displaying a notification window at the specified time that precedes the starting time of the second appointment time by at least the travel time to the second appointment, the notification window structured and arranged to remind the user about the second appointment.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether the travel time exceeds the amount of unscheduled time; and

if it is determined that travel time exceeds the amount of unscheduled time, providing an alert message, to inform the user that, based on the current scheduling of the first and second appointments, the user would not have enough time to arrive at the second appointment location.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising providing one or more suggestions to enable the user to respond to the alert message, wherein the one or more suggestions includes a suggestion for at least one of:

(1) leave the first appointment sooner than the scheduled ending time of the first appointment, (2) cancel, one or both of the first or second appointments, (3) reschedule the first or second appointment, and (4) notify the other attendees of the second appointment, or another designee, that the user will arrive late.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:

identifying people attending the second appointment;

identifying time availability of the people attending the second appointment; and

based on the time availability of the people attending the second appointment, taking steps to reschedule the second appointment at a mutually convenient time for people attending the second appointment.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein identifying the first appointment and the second appointment further includes:

accessing the calendar application via a navigation application in response to activation of a transferring control tool that appears within an interface of the navigation application; and

identifying the first appointment and the second appointment in the calendar application.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein the transferring control tool is configured to import time and geographic information of the first and second appointments to the navigation application.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the transferring control is further configured to cause the navigation application to:

identify the route and the travel time associated with the route;

calculate the remaining time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

determine whether the remaining time exceeds the travel time; and

instruct the calendar application to place the hold between the first appointment and the second appointment to account for the travel time if it is determined the remaining time exceeds the travel time.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein identifying the first appointment and the second appointment further includes:

accessing the calendar application via a client device; and

identifying the first appointment and the second appointment in the calendar application.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein the client device interfaces between the calendar application and a navigation application.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein accessing the calendar application includes accessing the calendar application in response to activation of a transferring control tool within the client device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising communicating the ending time and the geographic location of the first appointment and the starting time and the geographic location of the second appointment to the navigation application in response to the activation of the transferring control.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

monitoring the current location of a user;

identifying a change in the current location of the user;

referencing the route extending from the geographic location of the first appointment to the geographic location of the second appointment;

determining whether the current location of the user exceeds a threshold amount from the route; and

if it is determined that the current location of the user exceeds the threshold amount from the route, providing the user with direction to the second appointment from the current location of the user.

16. A computer-implemented method for identifying a travel time between appointments and reserving a time block on a calendar application to account for such travel time, the method comprising:

identifying a first appointment in a calendar application;

identifying a geographic location of the first appointment;

identifying a time of the first appointment;

receiving, from a user, a request to schedule a second appointment at a requested time;

identifying a geographic location of the second appointment;

identifying a route extending between the geographic location of the first appointment and the geographic location of the second appointment;

identifying a travel time associated with the route;

determining an amount of unscheduled time between the first appointment and the second appointment;

determining whether the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time; and

if it is determined that the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time;

scheduling the second appointment at the requested time; and

reserving a time block on the calendar application to account for the travel time.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 further comprising alerting the user, before scheduling the second appointment at the first particular time, about a possible conflict if it is determined that the travel time exceeds the amount of unscheduled time.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 further comprising:

in response to alerting the user, receiving, from the user, a second request to schedule the second appointment at an updated requested time;

determining an amount of unscheduled time between the first appointment and the second appointment based on the updated requested time for the second appointment;

if it is determined that the amount of unscheduled time exceeds the travel time;

scheduling the second appointment at the updated requested time; and

reserving a time block on the calendar application to account for the travel time.

19. A computer-implemented method for monitoring travel conditions and alerting a user when changes to travel conditions impact a travel time entry scheduled in a calendar application associated with the user, the method comprising:

monitoring travel conditions for a route of travel associated with a travel time entry scheduled in a calendar application associated with a user, the travel time entry corresponding to an estimated travel time needed for the user to, using the route of travel, arrive at a geographic location of an appointment scheduled in the calendar application associated with the user;

detecting a change in travel conditions for the route of travel associated with the travel time block;

in response to detecting the change in travel conditions, determining an updated travel time needed for the user to, using the route of travel, arrive at the geographic location of the appointment scheduled in the calendar application associated with the user;

comparing the updated travel time with time required by the travel time entry;

based on comparison results, determining whether the updated travel time is greater than the time required by the travel time entry by more than a threshold;

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry, alerting the user about the updated travel time; and

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is not more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry, maintaining the travel time entry.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19 further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry;

identifying one or more alternative routes of travel to the geographic location of the appointment scheduled in the calendar application associated with the user;

determining one or more alternative travel times associated with each of the identified one or more alternative routes of travel;

determining whether at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time;

conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time;

selecting at least one of the one or more alternative routes of travel for which the one or more alternative travel times is lowest, and

alerting the user about the selected at least one of the one or more alternative routes of travel; and

conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is not less than the updated travel time, alerting the user about current travel conditions and informing the user that the route of travel remains most efficient.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 19 wherein the travel time entry corresponds to an estimated travel time needed for the user to, using the route of travel, travel from a first geographic location of a first appointment to a second geographic location of a second appointment, further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry;

determining a time between an ending time of the first appointment and a starting time of the second appointment;

comparing the updated travel time with the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

based on comparison results, determining whether the updated travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment, alerting the user that at least one of the first appointment and the second appointment needs to be modified to account for the updated travel time; and

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is not greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

updating the travel time entry to correspond to the updated travel time; and

alerting the user of the updated travel time entry.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein alerting the user of the updated travel time entry includes alerting the user that the user needs to leave the first geographic location of the first appointment earlier than previously scheduled.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry;

identifying one or more alternative routes of travel from the first geographic location of the first appointment to the second geographic location of the second appointment;

determining one or more alternative travel times associated with each of the identified one or more alternative routes of travel;

determining whether at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time;

conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time;

selecting one of the one or more alternative routes of travel for which the one or more alternative travel times is lowest;

comparing the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment with the alternative travel time associated with the selected alternative route of travel;

based on comparison results, determining whether the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment is greater than the alternative travel time associated with the selected alternative route of travel;

conditioned on determining that the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment is greater than the alternative travel time associated with the selected alternative route of travel;

updating the travel time entry to correspond to the alternative travel time associated with the selected alternative route of travel; and

alerting the user of the updated travel time entry and the selected alternative route of travel, wherein

alerting the user that at least one of the first appointment and the second appointment needs to be modified to account for the updated travel time is also conditioned on determining that the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment is not greater than the alternative travel time associated with the selected alternative route of travel; and

updating the travel time entry to correspond to the updated travel time and alerting the user of the updated travel time entry are also conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is not less than the updated travel time.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the updated travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment, alerting attendees of the second appointment, or another designee, that the user may arrive late to the second appointment.

25. A computer-implemented method for automatically modifying a travel time entry in a calendar associated with a user in response to cancellation of a corresponding appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user, the method comprising:

detecting cancellation of an appointment entry in a calendar associated with a user;

in response to detecting cancellation of the appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user, determining whether the appointment entry is related to a travel time entry in the calendar associated with the user;

conditioned on determining that the appointment entry is related to a travel time entry in the calendar associated with the user;

identifying the travel time entry related to the appointment entry;

modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25 further comprising informing the user of the modification of the travel time entry as a consequence of the cancellation of the appointment entry.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 25 further comprising:

determining that the travel time entry is near a beginning or an end of a calendar day;

identifying one or more default travel locations corresponding to typical travel by the user at the beginning or the end of the calendar day; and

analyzing the travel time entry and the identified one or more default travel locations,

wherein modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry based on the analysis.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 25 further comprising:

identifying one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry; and

analyzing the travel time entry and the identified one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry,

wherein modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry based on the analysis.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 28 wherein:

the appointment entry is a first appointment entry;

identifying one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes;

identifying a second appointment entry scheduled immediately prior to the travel time entry, and

determining that, after cancellation of the first appointment entry, no calendar entries are scheduled more than a threshold amount of time subsequent to the travel time entry;

modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes canceling the travel time entry; and

informing the user of the modification of the travel time entry as a consequence of the cancellation of the appointment entry includes informing the user of the cancellation of the travel time entry.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 28 wherein:

the appointment entry is a first appointment entry;

identifying one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes;

identifying a second appointment entry scheduled immediately subsequent to the travel time entry, and

determining that, after cancellation of the first appointment entry, no calendar entries are scheduled more than a threshold amount of time prior to the travel time entry;

modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes canceling the travel time entry; and

informing the user of the modification of the travel time entry as a consequence of the cancellation of the appointment entry includes informing the user of the cancellation of the travel time entry.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 28 wherein:

the appointment entry is a first appointment entry;

identifying one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes;

identifying a second appointment entry scheduled prior to the travel time entry, and

identifying a third appointment entry scheduled subsequent to the travel time entry;

analyzing the travel time entry and the identified one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes determining whether travel time is needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry; and

modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes;

conditioned on determining that travel time is not needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry, canceling the travel time entry, and

conditioned on determining that travel time is needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry;

determining the travel time needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry, and

modifying the travel time entry to correspond to the travel time needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31 wherein modifying the travel time entry to correspond to the travel time needed between the second appointment entry and the third appointment entry includes at least one of lengthening the travel time entry, shortening the travel time entry, adjusting a start time of the travel time entry, and adjusting an end time of the travel time entry.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 28 wherein:

the appointment entry is a first appointment entry and the travel time entry is a first travel time entry;

identifying one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes;

identifying a second appointment entry scheduled immediately prior to the first travel time entry,

identifying a second travel time entry scheduled immediately subsequent to the first appointment entry, and

identifying a third appointment entry scheduled immediately subsequent to the second travel time entry;

analyzing the travel time entry and the identified one or more calendar entries scheduled prior or subsequent to the travel time entry includes analyzing the first travel time entry, the second appointment entry, the second travel time entry, and the third appointment entry; and

modifying the travel time entry to account for cancellation of the appointment entry includes;

determining a travel time needed to travel between the second appointment and the third appointment; and

modifying the first travel time entry and the second travel time entry to produce a single travel time entry that corresponds to the travel time needed to travel between the second appointment and the third appointment.

34. A computer-implemented method for accounting for telephone or video conference calls in scheduling travel time corresponding to appointments in a calendar associated with a user, the method comprising:

receiving a request to schedule, in a calendar associated with a user, a first appointment at a first time, the first appointment corresponding to a first geographic location;

identifying, in the calendar associated with the user, a second appointment that follows the first appointment;

determining whether the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

conditioned on determining that the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

accounting for travel time associated with the first appointment without regard for the second appointment by;

identifying, in the calendar associated with the user, a third appointment that follows the second appointment;

determining that the third appointment corresponds to a third geographic location;

in response to determining that the third appointment corresponds to the third geographic location;

identifying the third geographic location corresponding to the third appointment;

determining a first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location;

determining a time between an ending time of the first appointment and a starting time of the third appointment;

comparing the first travel time with the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the third appointment;

based on comparison results, determining whether the first travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the third appointment;

conditioned on determining that the first travel time is not greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the third appointment;

granting the request to schedule the first appointment; and

adding, in the calendar associated with the user, a travel time entry corresponding to the first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location;

conditioned on determining that the first travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the third appointment, alerting the user that insufficient travel time exists for scheduling the first appointment at the first time;

conditioned on determining that the second appointment is not an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

identifying a second geographic location associated with the second appointment;

determining a second travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the second geographic location;

determining a time between an ending time of the first appointment and a starting time of the second appointment;

comparing the second travel time with the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

based on comparison results, determining whether the second travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

conditioned on determining that the second travel time is not greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment;

granting the request to schedule the first appointment; and

adding, in the calendar associated with the user, a travel time entry corresponding to the second travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the second geographic location; and

conditioned on determining that the second travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the first appointment and the starting time of the second appointment, alerting the user that insufficient travel time exists for scheduling the first appointment at the first time.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the first appointment identifies the first geographic location corresponding to the first appointment.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein determining whether the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call includes at least one of determining whether the second appointment identifies a geographic location and determining whether the second appointment identifies a telephone or video conference call number.

37. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein adding, in the calendar associated with the user, the travel time entry corresponding to the first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location includes adding the travel time entry corresponding to the second travel time during the second appointment.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the adding, in the calendar associated with the user, the travel time entry corresponding to the first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location includes enabling the user to determine whether to add the travel time entry corresponding to the first travel time before the second appointment, after the second appointment, or during the second appointment.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein determining whether the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call includes:

accessing content included in a calendar entry corresponding to the second appointment;

analyzing the content included in the calendar entry corresponding to the second appointment; and

based on the analysis, automatically determining whether the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 34 further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the second appointment is an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

enabling the user to determine whether to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment;

conditioned on the user determining to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment, accounting for travel time associated with the first appointment without regard for the second appointment; and

conditioned on the user determining not to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment;

identifying, in the calendar associated with the user, the third appointment that follows the second appointment;

determining that the third appointment is not an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

in response to determining that the third appointment is not an appointment for a telephone or video conference call;

identifying the third geographic location associated with the third appointment;

determining the first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location;

determining a time between an ending time of the second appointment and a starting time of the third appointment;

comparing the first travel time with the time between the ending time of the second appointment and the starting time of the third appointment;

based on comparison results, determining whether the first travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the second appointment and the starting time of the third appointment

conditioned on determining that the first travel time is not greater than the time between the ending time of the second appointment and the starting time of the third appointment;

granting the request to schedule the first appointment; and

adding, in the calendar associated with the user, a travel time entry corresponding to the first travel time associated with traveling from the first geographic location to the third geographic location;

conditioned on determining that the first travel time is greater than the time between the ending time of the second appointment and the starting time of the third appointment, alerting the user that insufficient travel time exists for scheduling the first appointment at the first time.

41. The computer-implemented method of claim 40 wherein enabling the user to determine whether to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment includes:

enabling the user to set a default parameter, the default parameter indicating whether or not the user wishes to allow travel time to be scheduled during telephone or video conference call appointments.

42. The computer-implemented method of claim 40 wherein enabling the user to determine whether to open the second appointment for travel time includes:

asking the user whether the user wishes to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment; and

receiving an answer from the user indicating whether the user wishes to allow travel time to be scheduled during the second appointment.

43. A computer-implemented method for identifying unscheduled time between two appointment entries in a calendar other than travel time and presenting options to a user for using the unscheduled time, the method comprising:

identifying at least one of a first appointment entry in a calendar associated with a user and a second appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user, the first appointment entry being associated with a first geographic location, the second appointment entry being associated with a second geographic location that is different than the first geographic location, and a starting time of the second appointment entry being subsequent to an ending time of the first appointment entry;

identifying a travel time entry corresponding to a travel time between the first geographic location associated with the first appointment entry and the second geographic location associated with the second appointment entry;

determining whether a time between the ending time of the first appointment entry and the starting time of the second appointment entry is more than a threshold greater than time required by the travel time entry; and

conditioned on determining that the time between the ending time of the first appointment entry and the starting time of the second appointment entry is more than a threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry;

identifying unscheduled time, other than travel time, between the first appointment entry and the second appointment entry;

identifying one or more options for using the identified unscheduled time; and

presenting the identified one or more options to the user.

44. The computer-implemented method of claim 43 wherein:

identifying at least one of a first appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user and a second appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user includes identifying the first appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user and the second appointment entry in the calendar associated with the user; and

determining whether a time between an ending time of the first appointment entry and a starting time of the second appointment entry is more than a threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry includes;

determining the ending time of the first appointment entry;

determining the starting time of the second appointment entry;

computing the time between the ending time of the first appointment entry and the starting time of the second appointment entry;

comparing the time between the ending time of the first appointment entry and the starting time of the second appointment entry with the time required by the travel time entry;

based on comparison results, determining whether the time between the ending time of the first appointment entry and the starting time of the second appointment entry is more than the threshold greater than the time required by the travel time entry.

45. The computer-implemented method of claim 43 wherein identifying one or more options for using the identified unscheduled time includes:

accessing information related to one or more options available for using unscheduled time;

determining a time associated with each of the one or more options based on the accessed information related to the one or more options available for using unscheduled time;

comparing the determined time associated with each of the one or more options with the identified unscheduled time;

based on comparison results, identifying options for which the determined time is less than or equal to the identified unscheduled time.

46. The computer-implemented method of claim 45 further comprising:

accessing information related to interests of the user, wherein

identifying one or more options for using the identified unscheduled time includes selecting, from among the identified options for which the determined time is less than or equal to the identified unscheduled time, one or more options based on the information related to the interests of the user.

47. The computer-implemented method of claim 43 wherein:

identifying one or more options for using the identified unscheduled time includes identifying at least one of;

an option to spend more time at the first geographic location subsequent to the first appointment;

an option to spend more time at the second geographic location prior to the second appointment;

an option to visit a point of interest located proximate to the first geographic location;

an option to visit a point of interest located proximate to the second geographic location;

an option to visit a point of interest located along a route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location; and

an option to reschedule at least one of the first and second appointments to minimize the identified unscheduled time.

48. A computer-implemented method for including time associated with modality-specific incidentals to travel in determining a travel time for scheduling calendar appointments, the method comprising:

identifying a first appointment associated with a calendar of a user, the first appointment corresponding to a first geographic location;

identifying a second appointment associated with the calendar of the user, the second appointment corresponding to a second geographic location that is different than the first geographic location;

identifying a route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel;

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel;

determining a total travel time for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time; and

handling scheduling of the first appointment and the second appointment based on the determined total travel time.

49. The computer-implemented method of claim 48 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes determining an automobile as the modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes using a mapping device to determine an automobile travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the automobile;

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining a walking travel time associated with walking from a building to the automobile prior or subsequent to traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the automobile; and

determining a total travel time for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time includes adding the walking travel time to the automobile travel time.

50. The computer-implemented method of claim 48 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes determining an airplane as the modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining an air travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the airplane;

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining a security travel time associated with going through security prior to boarding the airplane, and

determining a total travel time for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time includes adding the security travel time to the air travel time.

51. The computer-implemented method of claim 48 wherein determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes:

accessing electronic data associated with the first appointment;

accessing electronic data associated with the second appointment;

accessing information associated with a distance between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

analyzing the electronic data associated with the first appointment, the electronic data associated with the second appointment, and the information associated with the distance between the first geographic location and the second geographic location; and

based on the analysis, automatically determining the modality of travel that provides the shortest travel time for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location.

52. The computer-implemented method of claim 51 wherein:

accessing electronic data associated with the first appointment includes at least one of accessing content associated with the first appointment and accessing a geographic location field associated with the first appointment; and

accessing information associated with a distance between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes;

accessing a driving map associated with traveling between the first geographic location and the second geographic location, the driving map accounting for potential driving routes between the first geographic location and the second geographic location, and

accessing a walking map associated with traveling between the first geographic location and the second geographic location, the walking map accounting for potential walking routes between the first geographic location and the second geographic location.

53. The computer-implemented method of claim 48 wherein determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes enabling the user to select the modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location.

54. The computer-implemented method of claim 48 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location includes determining multiple, different modalities of travel for traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined multiple, different modalities of travel; and

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining at least one incidental travel time associated with transitioning from a first modality of travel to a second modality of travel.