Collaborative conference bridges
First Claim
1. A method of executing a conference call session between parties using at least two nodes having conference-bridging capability, said method comprising steps of:
- at a first node, receiving location information indicative of location of each of said parties of said conference call, said first node having a first party of said conference call session as a subscriber;
establishing communication between said first node and at least one second node having conference-bridging capability;
establishing collaboration between said first and second nodes to select which of said first and second nodes is to provide a bridge to connect second and third parties of said conference call session with said first party, including exchanging signal messages between said first and second nodes and including accessing a database of information relevant to preferences in selecting between said first and second nodes; and
in response to said collaboration, bridging said parties into said conference call session, with said bridging occurring at said selected node of said first and second nodes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for executing a conference call session between parties provides collaboration between nodes having separate conference-bridging capabilities, so that selection from a number of alternative connectivity schemes can be based upon bridge-to-bridge negotiation. The selection of a connectivity scheme may be based upon one or more of cost and telecommunication resource availability. Selection may also be based upon stored historical data relating to prior conference calls involving at least one of said parties and/or upon historical data of patterns of node resource availability. A conference bridge includes a user interface, a message interface, a connectivity computation component, a conference bridge manager, and a multimedia exchange component. An input to the connectivity computation component includes a database having tariff table information and resource-demand cycle information. Another input to this component is a load monitor for continuously determining the availability of telecommunication resources. In the preferred embodiment, the method and apparatus allow dynamic reconfiguration of conference call connectivity when a time-dependent condition or a load-dependent condition is detected.
130 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of executing a conference call session between parties using at least two nodes having conference-bridging capability, said method comprising steps of:
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at a first node, receiving location information indicative of location of each of said parties of said conference call, said first node having a first party of said conference call session as a subscriber; establishing communication between said first node and at least one second node having conference-bridging capability; establishing collaboration between said first and second nodes to select which of said first and second nodes is to provide a bridge to connect second and third parties of said conference call session with said first party, including exchanging signal messages between said first and second nodes and including accessing a database of information relevant to preferences in selecting between said first and second nodes; and in response to said collaboration, bridging said parties into said conference call session, with said bridging occurring at said selected node of said first and second nodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of adding a party to an existing call session that utilizes first and second switches that each include a conference bridge, said method comprising steps of:
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initiating collaboration between said conference bridges of said first and second switches to select between said first and second switches for connecting said party, including determining which one of said first and second nodes involves a lower call rate in forming a connection to said party, said determination including accessing a tariff table of rates, thereby designating a preferred switch for connecting said party; determining whether said preferred switch involving said lower call rate has call-connection resource availability that is above a preselected availability threshold level; at least partially based upon whether said preferred switch has call-connection resource availability above said threshold level, negotiating which of said conference bridges is to form a bridge to said party; based upon said negotiation, forming said bridge to said party; and monitoring said call session after said party has been connected and selectively reconfiguring connections to parties of said call session based upon at least one of time-dependent rate changes and changes in said call-connection resource availability. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of executing a call session between at least three parties using at least two nodes having conference bridges comprising steps of:
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at a first node, receiving location information indicative of the location of each of said at least three parties of said call session, said first node having a first party of said call session as a subscriber; establishing communication among a plurality of conference bridges, including a conference bridge of said first node, wherein establishing communication includes forming a distributed database of data relevant to selection of a topography of connectivity from alternative topographies for connecting said parties, said distributed database having data indicative of tariffs and node resource availability for nodes at which said plurality of conference bridges reside; selecting a topography of connectivity based upon said data stored in said distributed database formed by communication among said plurality of conference bridges; and connecting said parties based upon said selected topography. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A conference bridge of a telecommunications local node comprising:
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user interface means for receiving location information from a calling subscriber of said local node, said location information being indicative of location of a party to whom a bridge is to be formed to connect said party within a conference call; computation means, connected to receive said location information and to receive call rate information, for computing a first call rate of bridging said party from said local node and for comparing said computed first call rate to a second call rate that is indicative of costs of bridging said party from a remote node having a second conference bridge; message interface means for negotiating with said second conference bridge of said remote node based at least partially upon said first and second call rates; and conference bridge manager means, connected to said computation means and said message interface means, for selecting between said conference bridges of said local and remote nodes to form a bridge to connect said party. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification