Automatically establishing conferences from desktop applications over the Internet
First Claim
1. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a desktop calendar application at a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving user input of conference information at a user'"'"'s appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
said desktop calendar application automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary conference application with the conference information;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary conference application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary conference application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the service provider; and
providing notification from said secondary application to the desktop calendar application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for providing automatic scheduling and establishment of telephone conferences over a network such as the Internet. A user inputs conference information to a desktop application, and the scheduling, the contacting of participants, and the control of the conference are conducted automatically. If the conference is scheduled to dial out to the participants and is marked as a calendar entry, the desktop application stores the conference information, including the start/end time of a conference, the telephone numbers of the participants, the choice of service provider, and an account id. Once a teleconference calendar entry is created, the process starts and the conference is established automatically. At the scheduled time, the desktop application warns the user by running an alarm function to remind them of the time of the conference. Thereafter, a secondary application is invoked and the conference information is passed to the secondary application for automatic establishment of the conference. When the secondary application is invoked, it establishes an Internet connection with the service provider and exchanges data messages to start and monitor the audio conference. The status of the participants and of the conference are reported to the user by the secondary application via a user interface. The conference service provider receives the telephone numbers of the participants over the established data connection and starts dialing out to the participants. When the participants answer, they are all connected to an audio bridge. In one modification of the invention, the service provider returns a dial-in number and a password, upon request, to be distributed to the participants, so that any users who are unable to provide a dial-out number in advance may dial in to the scheduled conference.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a desktop calendar application at a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a user'"'"'s appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
said desktop calendar application automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary conference application with the conference information;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary conference application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary conference application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the service provider; and
providing notification from said secondary application to the desktop calendar application of receipt of the conference confirmation information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a desktop calendar application at a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a user'"'"'s appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
said desktop calendar application automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application; and
receiving conference confirmation information from the service provider;
wherein the conference request includes a request for an immediate conference and further comprising said service provider establishing the conference across an audio bridge and wherein receiving conference confirmation information comprises being connected to the audio bridge. - View Dependent Claims (7)
-
-
8. Apparatus for automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer comprising:
-
a desktop calendar application;
at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information at a user'"'"'s appointment calendar page generated by said desktop calendar application;
an application interface for said desktop calendar application to automatically invoke a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
a secondary conference application for receiving conference information, for automatically dialing a conference service provider, for communicating a conference request to the conference service provider, for receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider, and for providing notification of receipt of the conference confirmation information; and
wherein said desktop calendar application is adapted for receiving the user input from the user input interface, for processing the conference information, and for receiving notification of receipt of the conference confirmation information from the secondary application. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A desktop calendar application for a user computer to automatically establish a conference from said desktop application over the Internet comprising:
-
at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by said desktop calendar application;
an application interface for automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information and for receiving conference confirmation information from the secondary application; and
a calendar update component for updating the user appointment calendar based on conference confirmation information. - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
-
16. A desktop calendar application for a user computer to automatically establish a conference from said desktop application over the Internet comprising:
-
at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by said desktop application;
an application interface for automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information and for receiving conference confirmation information from the secondary application; and
an alarm component for the desktop application to invoke an alarm function based on the conference confirmation information. - View Dependent Claims (17)
-
-
18. A platform independent secondary conference application at a user computer for automatically establishing a conference from the user computer over the Internet comprising:
-
an interface component for receiving user input conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
a dialer component for automatically dialing over the Internet to a conference service provider and for communicating conference information to the conference service provider;
a receiver for receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
a conference monitoring component for monitoring a conference established based on the conference confirmation information. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
-
21. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
providing notification from said secondary application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.
-
-
22. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, wherein the user computer maintains a user appointment calendar, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
updating the appointment calendar with the conference confirmation information.
-
-
23. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, wherein the user computer has an alarm function, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a desktop calendar application;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
invoking the alarm function based on the conference confirmation information and automatically dialing in from the secondary conference application to the conference service provider at the preset time.
-
-
24. A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a desktop calendar application;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application; and
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
wherein the conference request includes a request for an immediate conference and further comprising said conference service provider establishing the conference across an audio bridge and wherein receiving conference confirmation information comprises being connected to the audio bridge.
-
-
25. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatically establishing a conference from a desktop calendar application at a user computer over the Internet, said method steps comprising:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a user appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
providing notification from said secondary application to the desktop application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.
-
-
26. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatically establishing a conference from a user computer over the Internet, said method steps comprising:
-
receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a user desktop calendar application;
automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider; and
providing notification from said secondary application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.
-
Specification