System and method for plug and play video-conferencing
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating instant messaging (IM) communication between a first user and a second user, the method comprising:
- providing the first user with an account registered with an IM service;
linking the account with a second account registered with the IM service; and
populating the buddy list of the first account with information for the second account, and the buddy list of the second account with information for the first account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a system and method for simply and intuitively establishing and using a communication link with another user. Various embodiments of the present invention allow one or more non-technically oriented users to also easily set up for, and engage easily in a video call. In an embodiment, a communication application used over a network (e.g., the Internet) is seamlessly downloaded onto a user'"'"'s machine if necessary. The user is provided with an account which has already been created/registered with the application. In addition, the user'"'"'s account is linked to at least one other account, and information for each account is populated into the buddy-list or contact information for the other account. Providing of already created/registered accounts, and the linking of various accounts, permits easy and seamless communication between users. In one embodiment, cards are used to provide the user with information regarding the pre-registered accounts.
35 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A method for facilitating instant messaging (IM) communication between a first user and a second user, the method comprising:
-
providing the first user with an account registered with an IM service; linking the account with a second account registered with the IM service; and populating the buddy list of the first account with information for the second account, and the buddy list of the second account with information for the first account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for facilitating video instant messaging (IM) conversation between a first user and a second user, the method comprising:
-
providing a first webcam and a second webcam; and providing a first account with an IM service and a second account with the IM service, wherein the first account and the second account are linked. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for facilitating communication between a first user and a second user using a communication service, the method comprising:
-
providing the first user with an account pre-registered with the communication service; and linking the account with at least a second account pre-registered with the communication service. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A card for facilitating communication using a communication service, the card comprising:
-
encoded information based on a userid and a password for an account registered with the communication service; the userid in alphanumeric characters; and the password in alphanumeric characters. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
-
21. A package for facilitating video communication using a communication service, the package comprising:
-
a first webcam; a second webcam; a first card with information for a first account registered with the communication service, wherein the first card is for use with the first webcam; a second card with information for a second account registered with the communication service, wherein the second card is for use with the second webcam, and wherein the first account and the second account are linked together.
-
-
22. A method for facilitating video communication between a first user and second user, the method comprising:
-
installing a first webcam on a host; presenting a card to the webcam, the card containing information for an account with a communication service; and initiating video communication with the second user by selecting an entry automatically populated into a buddy list for the communication service.
-
Specification