Selective Teleconference Interruption
First Claim
1. A method of controlling a conference call comprising:
- during an unmoderated conference call, receiving by a conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal from a speaking conferee terminal indicating acknowledgment of an in-band interrupt request signal, wherein the in-band acknowledgment signal is independent of rejection or acceptance by a currently speaking conferee of the interrupt request signal;
transmitting by the conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal to a non-speaking conferee terminal without sending the in-band acknowledgment signal to other conferee terminals in the unmoderated conference call, and without changing muting states of the non-speaking conferee terminal and of the speaking conferee terminal;
sending by the conference call controller an in-band alert signal to the speaking conferee terminal until detecting that the currently speaking conferee has taken a predetermined action via the speaking conferee terminal, wherein the in-band alert signal indicates a continuing request to speak and is independent of a muting state of the non-speaking conferee terminal; and
responsive to detecting by the conference call controller that the currently speaking conferee has taken the predetermined action, discontinuing sending by conference call controller the in-band alert signal;
wherein the conference call controller comprises a computer system, or an electronic circuit for performing call conference control, or a combination of the computer system and the electronic circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling a peer-to-peer, unmoderated conference call, which allows a non-talking conferee to send an in-band interrupt request signal which is detected by the conference bridge, which automatically determines which conferee is currently talking, and continuously sends an alert signal to the talking conferee, but prevents transmission of alert signal and interrupt request signal to all other, non-speaking conferees. When the talking conferee quits talking, or acknowledges the interrupt request, or a timeout occurs, alert signal is discontinued, and the request conferee (or another conferee) may speak. Optionally, after a timeout occurs, the voice of the currently speaking conferee is removed from the conference summation, effectively muting the non-yielding conferee.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of controlling a conference call comprising:
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during an unmoderated conference call, receiving by a conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal from a speaking conferee terminal indicating acknowledgment of an in-band interrupt request signal, wherein the in-band acknowledgment signal is independent of rejection or acceptance by a currently speaking conferee of the interrupt request signal; transmitting by the conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal to a non-speaking conferee terminal without sending the in-band acknowledgment signal to other conferee terminals in the unmoderated conference call, and without changing muting states of the non-speaking conferee terminal and of the speaking conferee terminal; sending by the conference call controller an in-band alert signal to the speaking conferee terminal until detecting that the currently speaking conferee has taken a predetermined action via the speaking conferee terminal, wherein the in-band alert signal indicates a continuing request to speak and is independent of a muting state of the non-speaking conferee terminal; and responsive to detecting by the conference call controller that the currently speaking conferee has taken the predetermined action, discontinuing sending by conference call controller the in-band alert signal; wherein the conference call controller comprises a computer system, or an electronic circuit for performing call conference control, or a combination of the computer system and the electronic circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer program product for controlling a conference call, the computer program product comprising a tangible, computer-readable storage memory device having program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising:
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program code for, during an unmoderated conference call, receiving by a conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal from a speaking conferee terminal indicating acknowledgment of an in-band interrupt request signal, wherein the in-band acknowledgment signal is independent of rejection or acceptance by a currently speaking conferee of the interrupt request signal; program code for transmitting by the conference call controller an in-band acknowledgment signal to a non-speaking conferee terminal without sending the in-band acknowledgment signal to other conferee terminals in the unmoderated conference call, and without changing muting states of the non-speaking conferee terminal and of the speaking conferee terminal; program code for sending by the conference call controller an in-band alert signal to the speaking conferee terminal until detecting that the currently speaking conferee has taken a predetermined action, wherein the in-band alert signal indicates a continuing request to speak and is independent of a muting state of the non-speaking conferee terminal; and program code for, responsive to detecting by the conference call controller that the currently speaking conferee has taken the predetermined action, discontinuing sending by the conference call controller the in-band alert signal; wherein the conference call controller comprises a computer having a processor for executing program code, or an electronic circuit for performing a logical process, or a combination of the processor, the program code, and the electronic circuit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for controlling a conference call comprising:
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a first receiver portion of a conference call controller for, during an unmoderated conference call, receiving an in-band acknowledgment signal from a speaking conferee terminal indicating acknowledgment of an in-band interrupt request signal, wherein the in-band acknowledgment signal is independent of rejection or acceptance by a currently speaking conferee of the interrupt request signal; a first transmitter portion of a conference call controller for transmitting an in-band acknowledgment signal to a non-speaking conferee terminal without sending the in-band acknowledgment signal to other conferee terminals in the unmoderated conference call, and without changing muting states of the non-speaking conferee terminal and of the speaking conferee terminal; and a first sender portion of the conference call controller for sending by the conference call controller an in-band alert signal to the speaking conferee terminal until detecting that the currently speaking conferee has taken a predetermined action, wherein the in-band alert signal indicates a continuing request to speak and is independent of a muting state of the non-speaking conferee terminal, and for, responsive to detecting by the conference call controller that the currently speaking conferee has taken the predetermined action, discontinuing sending by the conference call controller the in-band alert signal; wherein the conference call controller comprises a computer having a processor for executing program code, or an electronic circuit for performing a logical process, or a combination of the processor, the program code, and the electronic circuit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification