MANAGING SUBCONFERENCE CALLS WITHIN A PRIMARY CONFERENCE CALL

• US 20120128146A1
• Filed: 11/18/2010
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BOSS, Gregory J., JONES, Andrew R., MCCONNELL, Kevin C., MOORE, John E. Jr., LINGAFELT, Charles S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,654,953 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/564 whereby the feature is a sub-conference

Abstract

Managing subconference calls within a primary conference call. An approach includes establishing a primary conference call including a plurality of participants, establishing a subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants, and providing respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants. Members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call. The approach also includes providing a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable to implement the steps of the method, comprising:

establishing a primary conference call including a plurality of participants;

establishing a subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants;

providing respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants, wherein members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call; and

providing a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the respective output signals includes providing the members of the subconference call with the audio of the primary conference call.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising adjusting a volume of the audio of the primary conference call relative to the audio of the subconference call.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the visual display when one of the plurality of participants adds to or drops out of the subconference call.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a text transcript of the audio of the primary conference call; and

transmitting the text transcript to the members of the subconference call.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating and the transmitting the text transcript are performed in real time for a duration of the subconference call.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the transmitting the text transcript is performed at a conclusion of the subconference call.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing the subconference call comprises detecting a predefined trigger word or phrase spoken by one of the plurality of participants.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, upon the detecting, the one of the plurality of participants is placed into or taken out of the subconference call.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual display comprises a graphical user interface (GUI), and further comprising receiving an instruction via the GUI to add or remove at least one of the plurality of participants to/from the subconference call.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of participants is connected to the primary conference call or the subconference call using a first terminal, and further comprising:

detecting that the one of the plurality of participants is conducting another call on a second terminal;

muting the first terminal in the primary conference call or the subconference call; and

providing a text transcript of the primary conference call or the subconference call to the first terminal while the user is conducting the other call on the second terminal.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of participants is connected to the primary conference call or the subconference call using a first terminal, and further comprising:

receiving a transfer command and transfer phone number from the first terminal;

initiating a call to a second terminal using the transfer phone number;

upon the second terminal answering the call, connecting the second terminal to the primary conference call or the subconference call, and disconnecting the first terminal from the primary conference call or the subconference call.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of participants is connected to the primary conference call or the subconference call using a terminal, the one of the plurality of participants is connected to another conference call using the terminal, and further comprising:

determining a focused conference call and a non-focused conference call by detecting that the one of the plurality of participants is focused on either;

(i) the primary conference call or the subconference call, or (ii) the other conference call;

muting the first terminal in the non-focused conference call;

providing a text transcript of the non-focused conference call to the terminal.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of participants is connected to the primary conference call or the subconference call using a terminal, and further comprising:

detecting that the terminal is muted while the one of the plurality of participants is speaking; and

turning off the muting based on the detecting.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

17. A method of deploying a system for managing a subconference call within a primary conference call, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure that operates to;

establish the primary conference call including a plurality of participants;

establish the subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants;

provide respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants, wherein members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call;

provide a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call;

generate a text transcript of the audio of the primary conference call; and

transmit the text transcript to the members of the subconference call,

wherein the transmitting is performed in real time for a duration of the subconference call or is performed at a conclusion of the subconference call;

the providing the respective output signals includes providing the members of the subconference call with the audio of the primary conference call and an option to adjust a volume of the audio of the primary conference call; and

the establishing the subconference call comprises at least one of;

detecting a predefined trigger word or phrase spoken by one of the plurality of participants, and receiving an instruction via a graphical user interface to add or remove at least one of the plurality of participants to/from the subconference call.

18. A system, comprising a conference server comprising a processor, a memory, and a conference manager application, wherein the conference manager application operates to:

establish the primary conference call including a plurality of participants;

establish the subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants;

provide respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants, wherein members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call;

provide a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call; and

transmit a text transcript of a conversation of the primary conference call to the members of the subconference call.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the providing the respective output signals includes providing the members of the subconference call with the audio of the primary conference call.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the conference manager application operates to change the visual display when one of the plurality of participants adds to or drops out of the subconference call.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the transmitting the text transcript is performed in real time for a duration of the subconference call.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the transmitting the text transcript is performed at a conclusion of the subconference call.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the establishing the subconference call comprises detecting a predefined trigger word or phrase spoken by one of the plurality of participants; and

upon the detecting, the one of the plurality of participants is placed into or taken out of the subconference call.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the storage medium, the computer program code when executed on a computing device causes the computing device to:

establish the primary conference call including a plurality of participants;

establish the subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants;

provide respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants, wherein members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call;

provide a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call; and

transmit a text transcript of a conversation of the primary conference call to the members of the subconference call, wherein the transmitting is performed in real time for a duration of the subconference call or is performed at a conclusion of the subconference call

25. A computer system for establishing a conference call, the system comprising:

a CPU, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to establish the primary conference call including a plurality of participants;

second program instructions to establish the subconference call including a subset of the plurality of participants;

third program instructions to provide respective output signals to each of the plurality of participants, wherein members of the primary conference call are provided with audio only of the primary conference call, and members of the subconference call are provided with audio of the subconference call;

fourth program instructions to provide a visual display that shows respective groupings of members of the subconference call and members of the primary conference call; and

fifth program instructions to transmit a text transcript of a conversation of the primary conference call to the members of the subconference call,

wherein the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.