Active talker display for web-based control of conference calls

• US 6,628,767 B1
• Filed: 11/27/1999
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Visible Connections, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Spiderphone.com Inc.
• Inventors: Goikhman, Arthur A., Dacek, Stephen T., Wellner, Pierre D., Torkelson, Cary T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Matar, Ahmad F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Quynh H.
• Application Number:
  US09/449,463
• Time in Patent Office: 1,403 Days
• Field of Search: 379/202.01, 709/204, 709/205, 370/260
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42161 via computer interface
• 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 3/563 User guidance or feature selection

Abstract

Participants of a conference call are permitted to see a continuously updated display on their own web browsers identifying the current speaker(s) on the conference call. In a telecommunications conferencing system which includes a conference bridge having a plurality of ports, voice connections are established between a plurality of conference participants and respective ports of the conference bridge, human readable visual labels are assigned individually to each of the participants and their respective ports, data connections are established between the conference bridge and respective video monitors for at least some of the participants, respective visual labels for the active speakers are displayed at a fixed location on each of the video monitors, the ports being used by the currently active speakers are detected, and the displayed labels are continually updated according to detected ports as the currently active speakers change. Because visual speaker labels are displayed at fixed screen locations, each participant knows where to look at all times and any need to scroll through multiple screens of data is minimized.

Claims

1. A method of operating a telecommunications conferencing system which includes a conference bridge having a plurality of ports, said method of operation comprising the steps of:

establishing voice connections between a plurality of conference participants and respective ports of said conference bridge;

assigning human readable labels individual to each of said participants and their respective ports;

establishing data connections between said conference bridge and respective video monitors for at least some of said participants;

displaying respective ones of said labels for the active speakers at a fixed location relative to the location of labels from other participants on each of said video monitors;

detecting which of said ports are being used by the currently active speakers; and

continually updating said displayed labels according to detected ports by changing the labels at said fixed location as the currently active speakers change.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the one of said ports being used by the loudest currently active speaker is detected, the respective one of said labels for the loudest currently active speaker is displayed, and the displayed label is continually updated as the loudest currently active speaker changes.

3. The method of claim 1 in which:

said data connections are established between said conference bridge and respective computers with video monitors through a web server;

said labels are displayed on said video monitors through web browsers, thereby eliminating any need for additional computer software to be downloaded from said web server or to be installed on any of said computers; and

a Java programming language mini-application (applet) maintains a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) connection with said web server for each of said data connections, thereby allowing said web server to send current talker updates to each of said video monitors without conference participant action and without browser polling of said web server.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

generating a personal identification number (PIN), unique within the current conference and personal to himself, for a participant;

displaying said PIN on said participant'"'"'s video monitor; and

entering said PIN by said participant over a respective one of said voice connections to access said current conference.

5. The method of claim 4 in which:

a voice connection phone number for dialing into said conference bridge, a conference access code individual to the conference, and a PIN individual to said participant are displayed on said participant'"'"'s video monitor; and

said phone number and said access code are used to establish voice and data connections to said conference bridge and said PIN is used to associate said participant'"'"'s own voice connection with his own data connection.

6. The method of claim 4 in which:

said participant uses said PIN to gain access to the current conference after a voice connection to said conference bridge has been established.

7. The method of claim 4 in which:

said participant uses said PIN to gain access to the current conference before a voice connection to said conference bridge has been established.

8. The method of claim 3 in which said Java programming language mini-application (applet) is used for displaying text messages from any conference participant with a data connection to at least one of the other conference participants with respective data connections.

9. The method of claim 1 in which at least one of said ports is shared by multiple speakers using a directional speakerphone, said directional speakerphone transmits directional information to said conferencing system, and said directional information is combined with detected port information to update the associated currently active speaker label.

10. A telecommuncations conferencing system comprising:

a conference bridge having a plurality of ports;

means for establishing voice connections between a plurality of conference participants and respective ports of said conference bridge;

means for assigning human readable labels individual to each of said participants and their respective ports;

means for establishing data connections between said conference bridge and respective video monitors for at least some of said participants;

means for displaying respective ones of said labels for the active speakers at a fixed location relative to the locations of labels for other participants on each of said video monitors;

means for detecting which of said ports are being used by the currently active speakers; and

means for continually updating said displayed labels according to detected ports by changing the labels at said fixed location as the currently active speakers change.