Intelligent Free-Time Search

• US 20080228547A1
• Filed: 05/25/2008
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Sundstrom, Robert J., Kovales, Renee M., Doss, J. Smith, Pozefsky, Diane P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,459 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for performing free-time searches that exploit information of the type used with electronic calendars. By leveraging advanced calendaring system information and using location, other context information such as corporate policy, legal constraints, and technology constraints, and user-specific preferences to provide a complete picture of a person'"'"'s availability, the functionality (and therefore the value) of scheduling systems in increased, resulting in an ability to schedule meetings with more accuracy and less rework. Various allowable participation types for meeting invitees may be specified, and each invitee'"'"'s availability is determined accordingly. Location-sensitive travel times (including optional user-specific travel time adjustments) are used in preferred embodiments when in-person participation is required.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for performing a free-time search of calendar data, comprising a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the memory storing instructions configured to:

determine, for each of a plurality of meeting invitees, each of at least one allowable participation type which a meeting scheduler indicates that this meeting invitee is allowed to participate in a meeting to be scheduled, wherein at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees has at least two allowable participation types that each specify a different type of mandatory participation;

use calendar data comprising calendared events of the meeting invitees to programmatically build, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, at least one busy bar representing calendared events of that meeting invitee, each of the at least one busy bars corresponding to one of the at least one allowable participation types of that meeting invitee, wherein;

each of the busy bars comprises a free-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type and a busy-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is not available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type; and

for at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees, the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a first one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee are different from the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a second one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee;

for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, perform steps of;

programmatically changing all of the busy-time segments that represent travel time to free-time segments on the busy bar; and

for each calendared event represented by an existing busy-time segment on the busy bar, computing a first travel time from a location of that calendared event to a location of the meeting and a second travel time from the location of the meeting to a location of the calendared event represented by a next-successive one of the existing busy-time segments, and programmatically adding a first new busy-time segment following the existing busy-time segment and a second new busy-time segment preceding the next calendared event, the first new busy-time segment representing the first travel time and the second new busy-time segment representing the second travel time;

adjust at least one of the free-time segments in at least one of the busy bars based on one or more context-sensitive criteria which are applicable to this free-time search;

determine, from the busy bars, one or more free-time segments when each of the plurality of meeting invitees is available, in at least one of the at least one allowable participation types for that meeting invitee; and

provide the determined free-time segments as a result of the free-time search.

2. A computer-implemented system for programmatically scheduling a meeting for a plurality of meeting invitees, comprising a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the memory storing instructions configured to:

determine, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, each of at least one allowable participation type for which a meeting scheduler indicates that this meeting invitee is allowed to participate in the meeting, wherein at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees has at least two allowable participation types for the event, each of which specifies a different type of mandatory participation;

use calendar data comprising calendared events of the meeting invitees to programmatically build, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, at least one busy bar representing calendared events of that meeting invitee, each of the at least one busy bars corresponding to one of the at least one allowable participation types of that meeting invitee, wherein;

each of the busy bars comprises a free-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type and a busy-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is not available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type; and

for at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees, the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a first one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee are different from the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a second one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee;

for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, perform steps of;

programmatically changing all of the busy-time segments that represent travel time to free-time segments on the busy bar; and

for each calendared event represented by an existing busy-time segment on the busy bar, computing a first travel time from a location of that calendared event to a location of the meeting and a second travel time from the location of the meeting to a location of the calendared event represented by a next-successive one of the existing busy-time segments, and programmatically adding a first new busy-time segment following the existing busy-time segment and a second new busy-time segment preceding the next calendared event, the first new busy-time segment representing the first travel time and the second new busy-time segment representing the second travel time;

adjust at least one the free-time segments in at least one of the busy bars based on one or more context-sensitive criteria which are applicable to the meeting;

determine, from the busy bars, one or more free-time segments when each of the plurality of meeting invitees is available, in at least one of the at least one allowable participation types for that meeting invitee; and

provide the determined time segments as candidate times for scheduling the meeting.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the context-sensitive criteria comprise at least one of:

user preferences of at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees;

policy considerations;

legal constraints;

location constraints;

technology constraints; and

device constraints.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein:

the instructions configured to adjust further comprise instructions configured to;

analyze the free-time segments in each of the busy bars for each of the plurality of meeting invitees; and

mark each particular one of the analyzed free-time segments as a busy-time segment if the context-sensitive criteria indicate that this meeting invitee cannot participate in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type during this particular time segment.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the instructions configured to adjust further comprise instructions configured to programmatically change, for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, from a free-time segment to a busy-time segment each particular one of the free-time segments for which the context-sensitive criteria indicate that the meeting invitee for whom the busy bar was built cannot participate in the meeting by in-person participation during that particular time segment.

6. The system according to claim 2, further comprising instructions configured to adjust at least one of the first travel time and the second travel time, for at least one of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, according to user preferences of the meeting invitee for whom the busy bar was built, prior to operation of the instructions configured to determine.

7. The system according to claim 2, wherein the instructions configured to compute further comprise instructions configured to compute the first travel time based on a first distance between the location of the meeting and the location of the calendared event represented by the existing busy-time segment and computing the second travel time based on a second distance between the location of the meeting and the location of the calendared event represented by the next-successive one of the existing busy-time segments.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the instructions configured to compute further comprise instructions configured to retrieve the first travel time and the second travel time from a repository.

9. The system according to claim 2, wherein the instructions configured to compute further comprise instructions configured to consult a travel time service.

10. A computer program product for performing a free-time search of calendar data, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer-readable media and comprising:

computer-readable program code for determining, for each of a plurality of meeting invitees, each of at least one allowable participation type for which a meeting scheduler indicates that this meeting invitee is allowed to participate in a meeting to be scheduled, wherein at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees has at least two allowable participation types that each specify a different type of mandatory participation;

computer-readable program code for using calendar data comprising calendared events of the meeting invitees to programmatically build, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, at least one busy bar representing calendared events of that meeting invitee, each of the at least one busy bars corresponding to one of the at least one allowable participation types of that meeting invitee, wherein;

each of the busy bars comprises a free-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type and a busy-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is not available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type; and

for at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees, the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a first one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee are different from the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a second one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee;

computer-readable program code for performing, for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, steps of;

programmatically changing all of the busy-time segments that represent travel time to free-time segments on the busy bar; and

for each calendared event represented by an existing busy-time segment on the busy bar, computing a first travel time from a location of that calendared event to a location of the meeting and a second travel time from the location of the meeting to a location of the calendared event represented by a next-successive one of the existing busy-time segments, and programmatically adding a first new busy-time segment following the existing busy-time segment and a second new busy-time segment preceding the next calendared event, the first new busy-time segment representing the first travel time and the second new busy-time segment representing the second travel time;

computer-readable program code for adjusting at least one of the free-time segments in at least one of the busy bars based on one or more context-sensitive criteria which are applicable to this free-time search;

computer-readable program code for determining, from the busy bars, one or more free-time segments when each of the plurality of meeting invitees is available, in at least one of the at least one allowable participation types for that meeting invitee; and

computer-readable program code for providing the determined free-time segments as a result of the free-time search.

11. A computer program product for programmatically scheduling a meeting for a plurality of meeting invitees, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer-readable media and comprising:

computer-readable program code for determining, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, each of at least one allowable participation type for which a meeting scheduler indicates that this meeting invitee is allowed to participate in the meeting, wherein at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees has at least two allowable participation types for the event, each of which specifies a different type of mandatory participation;

computer-readable program code for using calendar data comprising calendared events of the meeting invitees to programmatically build, for each of the plurality of meeting invitees, at least one busy bar representing calendared events of that meeting invitee, each of the at least one busy bars corresponding to one of the at least one allowable participation types of that meeting invitee, wherein;

each of the busy bars comprises a free-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type and a busy-time segment for each time segment when the calendar data indicates that the meeting invitee is not available for participation in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type; and

for at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees, the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a first one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee are different from the free-time segments and the busy-time segments in a second one of the busy bars built for that meeting invitee;

computer-readable program code for performing, for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, steps of;

programmatically changing all of the busy-time segments that represent travel time to free-time segments on the busy bar; and

for each calendared event represented by an existing busy-time segment on the busy bar, computing a first travel time from a location of that calendared event to a location of the meeting and a second travel time from the location of the meeting to a location of the calendared event represented by a next-successive one of the existing busy-time segments, and programmatically adding a first new busy-time segment following the existing busy-time segment and a second new busy-time segment preceding the next calendared event, the first new busy-time segment representing the first travel time and the second new busy-time segment representing the second travel time;

computer-readable program code for adjusting at least one of the free-time segments in at least one of the busy bars based on one or more context-sensitive criteria which are applicable to the meeting;

computer-readable program code for determining, from the busy bars, one or more free-time segments when each of the plurality of meeting invitees is available, in at least one of the at least one allowable participation types for that meeting invitee; and

computer-readable program code for providing the determined free-time segments as candidate times for scheduling the meeting.

12. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the context-sensitive criteria comprise at least one of:

user preferences of at least one of the plurality of meeting invitees;

policy considerations;

legal constraints;

location constraints;

technology constraints; and

device constraints.

13. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein:

the computer-readable program code for adjusting further comprises;

computer-readable program code for analyzing the free-time segments in each of the busy bars for each of the plurality of meeting invitees; and

computer-readable program code for marking each particular one of the analyzed free-time segments as a busy-time segment if the context-sensitive criteria indicate that this meeting invitee cannot participate in the meeting in the corresponding allowable participation type during this particular time segment.

14. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer-readable program code for adjusting further comprises computer-readable program code for programmatically changing, for all of the busy bars for which the corresponding allowable participation type is in-person participation, from a free-time segment to a busy-time segment each particular one of the free-time segments for which the context-sensitive criteria indicate that the meeting invitee for which the busy bar was built cannot participate in the meeting by in-person participation during that particular time segment.

15. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer-readable program code for computing further comprises computer-readable program code for consulting a travel time service.