SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GROUPING CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

• US 20120166534A1
• Filed: 12/27/2010
• Published: 06/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: KRISHNAKUMAR, Anjur S., KRISHNAN, Parameshwaran, SINGH, Navjot, YAJNIK, Shalini, BENTLEY, Jon L.
• Application Number:
  US12/978,745
• Publication Number:
  US 20120166534A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for grouping e-conference participants. A system identifies participants for an e-conference and identifies groups based on e-conference participant characteristics. Participant characteristics such as job function, skill set, department, business unit or physical location are used to group participants. Each of the e-conference participants is associated with at least one group and the system visually displays participants in groups through an e-conference user interface. Additionally, the system retrieves a stored list of e-conference participants and groups from a previous e-conference and restores the list of participants and groups for a current e-conference.

Claims

1. A method of grouping e-conference participants via a user interface, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of e-conference participants;

identifying a plurality of groups based on e-conference participant characteristics;

associating each of the plurality of e-conference participants with at least one group of the plurality of groups; and

displaying participants in the plurality of groups in an e-conference user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the e-conference user interface displays a speaker as a group instead of as an individual participant.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the e-conference participant characteristics comprises at least one of job function, skill set, department, business unit or physical location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of e-conference participants is associated with at least one group of the plurality of groups dynamically based on which participants are speaking.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups is identified further based on discussion content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups is identified further based on participant role, participant location, participant job function, and participant speech characteristics.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the e-conference user interface updates during an e-conference based on how participants move among groups.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups is identified further based on their participant preferences.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a stored list of the plurality of groups and e-conference participants from a previous e-conference; and

restoring the stored list of the plurality of groups and e-conference participants for a current e-conference.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups is identified further based on a previous e-conference grouping.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the e-conference user interface provides visual feedback indicating which groups are currently talking, the amount of time spent talking by a particular group, and which groups have not spoken.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising alerting e-conference participants associated with a particular group when a topic of discussion relates to the particular group.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of groups is identified further based on input from an e-conference moderator.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the e-conference moderator identifies the plurality of groups based on an agenda for the e-conference.

15. A system for grouping e-conference participants via a user interface, the system comprising:

a processor;

a first module configured to control the processor to identify a plurality of e-conference participants;

a second module configured to control the processor to identify a plurality of groups based on e-conference participant characteristics;

a third module configured to control the processor to associate each of the plurality of e-conference participants with at least one group of the plurality of groups; and

a fourth module configured to control the processor to display participants in the plurality of groups in a e-conference user interface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the e-conference user interface displays a speaker as a group instead of as an individual participant.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the e-conference participant characteristics comprises at least one of job function, skill set, department, business unit or physical location.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to group e-conference participants via a user interface, the instructions comprising:

identifying a plurality of e-conference participants;

identifying a plurality of groups based on e-conference participant characteristics;

associating each of the plurality of e-conference participants with at least one group of the plurality of groups; and

displaying participants in the plurality of groups in a e-conference user interface.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising:

retrieving a stored list of the plurality of groups and e-conference participants from a previous e-conference; and

restoring the stored list of the plurality of groups and e-conference participants for a current e-conference.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the e-conference user interface provides visual feedback indicating which groups are currently talking, the amount of time spent talking by a particular group, and which groups have not spoken.