TIME REQUEST QUEUE
First Claim
1. A method for scheduling a meeting for a set of attendees, wherein the set of attendees includes a special attendee and at least one additional attendee, the method comprising:
- generating a meeting request to be processed by a special attendee, wherein the meeting request designates the special attendee as a recipient of the meeting request and wherein the meeting request does not specify meeting commencement information, the meeting commencement information comprising at least one of a start time and a date, and further wherein the meeting request is acceptable by the special attendee to place a calendar event on a calendaring application;
obtaining a selection by the special attendee of the meeting commencement information responsive to the meeting request; and
generating an updated meeting request specifying the selected meeting commencement information, wherein the updated meeting request is generated for transmission to the at least one additional attendee and is acceptable by each at least one additional attendee to place a corresponding calendar event on a calendar application,wherein each of the steps is implemented by group scheduling software executed on a computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A group scheduling solution offers an organized and formalized solution to the time management problem in which the desired meeting includes one person who is difficult to schedule. In the inventive approach, a scheduling system is provided in which a hard-to-schedule attendee takes over responsibility for setting the start time of an event. In the invention, a workflow is provided, in which the organizer sends a request to the hard-to-schedule person. The request preferably contains the desired duration of the meeting. The request may contain a list of attendees, location, and other details. These requests are maintained in a queue for the hard-to-schedule person. Batching requests in a queue is a key feature of the invention. The hard-to-schedule person, or their proxy, can then review these requests and select a suitable time for the meeting, set this time in a meeting request, thereby causing an update to be sent back to the organizer and the other attendees, thus indicating the appointed time for the meeting. The organizer of the meeting can still update the meeting details, etc. However, any changes in the start time or the duration of the meeting must be made by the hard-to-schedule person or their proxy. The hard-to-schedule person can also decline the meeting entirely.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for scheduling a meeting for a set of attendees, wherein the set of attendees includes a special attendee and at least one additional attendee, the method comprising:
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generating a meeting request to be processed by a special attendee, wherein the meeting request designates the special attendee as a recipient of the meeting request and wherein the meeting request does not specify meeting commencement information, the meeting commencement information comprising at least one of a start time and a date, and further wherein the meeting request is acceptable by the special attendee to place a calendar event on a calendaring application; obtaining a selection by the special attendee of the meeting commencement information responsive to the meeting request; and generating an updated meeting request specifying the selected meeting commencement information, wherein the updated meeting request is generated for transmission to the at least one additional attendee and is acceptable by each at least one additional attendee to place a corresponding calendar event on a calendar application, wherein each of the steps is implemented by group scheduling software executed on a computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38)
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11. A system for use in a messaging environment including a set of attendees, wherein the set of attendees includes a special meeting attendee and at least one additional meeting attendee, the at least one additional meeting attendee including a meeting organizer, the system comprising:
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a computer executing group scheduling software, wherein upon execution of the group scheduling software, the computer is operable to; cause distribution of a meeting request to be processed by a special attendee, wherein the meeting request designates the special attendee as a recipient of the meeting request and wherein the meeting request does not specify meeting commencement information, the meeting commencement information comprising at least one of a start time and a date, and further wherein the meeting request is acceptable by the special attendee to place a calendar event on a calendaring application; obtain a selection by the special attendee of the meeting commencement information responsive to the meeting request; and cause distribution of an updated meeting request to the at least one additional attendee, wherein the updated meeting request specifies the selected meeting commencement information and is acceptable by each at least one additional attendee to place a corresponding calendar event on a calendar application. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39)
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29. A method for scheduling a meeting for a set of attendees, wherein the set of attendees includes a special attendee and at least one additional attendee, the method comprising:
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generating a meeting request from a meeting organizer to be processed only by the special attendee or a proxy of the special attendee, wherein the meeting request includes an identification of the at least one additional attendee and wherein the meeting request does not specify meeting commencement information, the meeting commencement information corresponding to at least one of a start time and a date, and further wherein the meeting request is acceptable by the special attendee to place a calendar event on a calendaring application; obtaining a selection from the special attendee or the proxy of the special attendee of the meeting commencement information responsive to the meeting request; and in response to obtaining the selection of the meeting commencement information, automatically causing distribution of an updated meeting request only to the at least one additional attendee, wherein the updated meeting request specifies the selected meeting commencement information and wherein the updated meeting request is acceptable by each at least one additional attendee to place a corresponding calendar event on a calendar application, wherein each of the steps is implemented by group scheduling software executed on a computer. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A method for scheduling a meeting for a set of attendees, wherein the set of attendees includes a special attendee and at least one additional attendee, the method comprising:
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generating, by a meeting organizer, an initial meeting request to be placed as a calendar event in a calendar event queue on a calendaring application and to be processed only by a special attendee or a proxy of the special attendee, wherein the initial meeting request does not specify meeting commencement information, the meeting commencement information comprising at least one of a start time and a date; obtaining a selection by the special attendee of the meeting commencement information responsive to the initial meeting request, wherein the selected meeting commencement information is modifiable only by the special attendee or a proxy of the special attendee and wherein the meeting organizer cannot make the modification; and in response to the obtained selection of meeting commencement information, automatically generating, without further interaction from the meeting organizer, an updated meeting request specifying the selected commencement information, wherein the updated meeting request is generated for transmission to the at least one additional attendee and is acceptable by each at least one additional attendee to place a corresponding calendar event on a calendar application; wherein each of the steps is implemented by group scheduling software executed on a computer.
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Specification