REAL-TIME DIRECTORY GROUPS

• US 20100306317A1
• Filed: 05/27/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Huddleston, Scott A., Serr, Robert W., McClelland, Mark D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,819,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]

Abstract

Groups within an organizational directory are set up as real-time groups enabling subscribers of those groups to receive incoming content via feeds or to interact with the group through real-time chat sessions. Subscribers are enabled to switch between interaction modes, employ different real-time communication modalities for chat sessions, and access stored records of incoming content, discussions, and similar data.

Claims

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for facilitating interactions with real-time directory groups, the method comprising:

subscribing a user to a real-time directory group, wherein the group includes an associated chat room;

determining the user'"'"'s default notification means;

receiving new content for the group;

notifying the user about the new content employing the user'"'"'s default notification means; and

enabling the user to interact with the group via a communication session through the chat room.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving an indication from the user, reverting the user back to a notification mode, wherein the user receives notifications via the default notification means if additional new content is received for the group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the user to interact with the group includes enabling the user to participate in a conversation associated with the received new content employing at least one communication mode.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one communication mode includes one from the following:

audio communication, video communication, an application sharing session, a data sharing session, a whiteboard sharing session, an electronic mail exchange, and an instant message session.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification includes information associated with at least one from a set of:

a subject matter of the new content, a link to a document associated with the new content, and reference information associated with the new content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification means includes one of:

a feed, an electronic mail message, an instant message, a SIP notification, a visual alert, and an audio alert.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the new content includes one of:

a message, a document, an audio file, and a video file.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the user access to at least one from a set of;

stored documents, recordings, and links associated with current and past conversations based on received content for the group.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the user to interact with the group includes enabling the user to join a conversation associated with the received new content employing one communication mode and to escalate the conversation to at least one other communication mode.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the user information associated with an ongoing conversation based on one of;

a user request, a predefined period, and a completion of the ongoing conversation.

11. A communication system for facilitating interactions with real-time directory groups, the system comprising:

a communication server configured to;

manage a plurality of real-time directory groups based on common themes;

in response to receiving a request, subscribe a user to one of the groups;

determine the user'"'"'s default notification means including one of;

a feed, an electronic mail message, an instant message, a SIP notification, a visual alert, and an audio alert;

in response to receiving new content associated with the user'"'"'s group, notify the user about the new content providing at least one from a set of;

a subject matter of the new content, a link to a document associated with the new content, and reference information associated with the new content; and

in response to receiving an indication from the user, enable the user to interact with the group by joining a conversation with at least one communication mode through a chat room associated with the group.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a client application configured to;

present the notification to the user employing at least one from a set of;

a textual scheme, a graphic scheme, and a color scheme;

enable the user to establish multimodal communications with the group.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication server is further configured to:

enable the user to create a new real-time directory group based on a common theme; and

invite other users to join the newly created group.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication server is one of:

a dedicated server and a multipurpose server.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication server is further configured to:

enable the user to subscribe to another one of the plurality of groups;

aggregate notifications for both groups; and

provide the user the aggregated notifications.

16. A computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon for facilitating interactions with real-time directory groups, the instructions comprising:

in response to receiving a request, subscribing a user to a real-time directory group;

in response to receiving new content addressed to the user'"'"'s group, updating a feed provided to the user, wherein the feed includes at least one from a set of;

a subject matter of the new content, a link to a document associated with the new content, and reference information associated with the new content, the new content including one of;

a message, a document, an audio file, and a video file;

enabling the user to join a conversation through a chat room associated with the group; and

upon the user'"'"'s departure from the conversation, continuing to monitor content addressed to the group such that the feed for the user is updated again if additional new content is received.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the user is enabled to join the conversation by selecting one of:

a conversation identifier, a group Universal Resource Identifier (URI), and a feed URI.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise:

enabling the user to subscribe to a plurality of groups; and

providing an aggregated feed to the user that includes content information associated with the subscribed groups.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:

providing a user interface to the user that includes identification, content status, and conversation capabilities of the subscribed groups employing at least one from a set of a textual scheme, a graphic scheme, and a color scheme such that the user is enabled to interact with any one of the subscribed groups through the user interface.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein real-time directory groups are managed by one of:

a server in a centralized fashion and a group of servers and clients in a distributed fashion.