Electronic meeting center

• US 6,938,069 B1
• Filed: 03/18/2000
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Chartoleaux KG LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Computing Services Support Solutions, INC
• Inventors: Narayanaswamy, Krishnamurthy
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zia, Syed A.
• Application Number:
  US09/531,092
• Time in Patent Office: 1,991 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14.09, 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An electronic meeting center including at least one persistent, server-based meeting is described. The meeting has a unique identifying name and topic, at least one authorized participant and a coordinator authorized to add and remove participants. At least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space is associated with the meeting that may be accessed by participants and the coordinator from remote locations. The center directs and controls messages having information relevant to the meeting. A dialogue buffer is associated with the meeting space and is capable of storing messages for review by the participants. The meeting space includes an agenda that includes associated goals and action items and is available to participants for viewing. Participants are informed of other participants accessing the meeting space. The center includes a library and a theatre that contains documents, addresses, references, bookmarks and multimedia displays relevant to the meeting. An administration facility provides the meeting coordinator with the ability to configure the rooms of the meeting center and associated references and documents to suit the needs of the meeting topic and the participants. The administration facility also permits the coordinator to create new meetings, agendas, goals, action items, and to control participants. Either the confirmation of the completion of an action item or the updating of an action item by the coordinator will forward at least one message to the administration facility, the participants, the meeting space, the library, the theatre or other facilities. The center automatically generates messages for meeting participants regarding relevant updates.

Claims

1. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants.

2. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the meeting further comprises a description and at least one keyword.

3. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the meeting space further comprises:

an agenda, said agenda including at least one goal associated with the meeting, at least one action item associated with the goal and being available to participants for viewing; and

means for representing the access of the meeting by the participant, thereby informing participants of meeting access by other participants.

4. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the meeting space further comprises a library room, said library room including at least one virtual bookshelf, said bookshelf containing at least one document relevant to the meeting, said document having been made accessible in the library room by the coordinator.

5. A library room as described in claim 4, further comprising at least one bookmark, said bookmark referencing one of a document, an Internet Website, and a local network information item relevant to the meeting, said bookmark being made accessible to all participants by the coordinator.

6. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the meeting space further comprises a theatre room, said theatre room including at least one multimedia document relevant to the meeting, said multimedia document having been made accessible in the theatre by the coordinator.

7. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1 further comprising a series of tools for use of meeting participants, said tools including topical email, a notebook, an appointment book and a calculator.

8. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 3, claim 4, claim 5, claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the meeting space further comprises an administration room, said administration room comprising:

means for creating new meetings;

means for modifying the meeting;

means for adding and deleting participants from the meeting;

means for modifying features of the meeting space;

means for creating and modifying documents for the library room;

means for creating and modifying bookmarks for the library room;

means for creating and modifying multimedia documents for the theatre room;

means for updating and modifying tools; and

means for modifying the agenda.

9. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 8, wherein one of the confirmation of the completion of an action item by the coordinator and the updating of an action item by the coordinator will forward at least one message to at least one of the administration room, the participant, the meeting space, the library room, the theatre room and the tools.

10. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 8 further comprising a user-friendly, question and answer interface for creating and modifying meetings, adding and deleting participants from the meeting, modifying features of the meeting space, creating and modifying documents and bookmarks for the library and creating and modifying multimedia documents for the theatre.

11. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the message is a document status message, said document status message being directed to the library room as document availability and updating are affected.

12. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the message is a multimedia document status message, said multimedia document status message being directed to the theatre room as multimedia document availability and updating are affected.

13. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the message is an agenda update message, said agenda update message being directed to the meeting space for viewing by interested participants.

14. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 1, wherein the message is a general event message, said general event message being automatically generated when a participant accesses or leaves the meeting center and used to inform other participants of meeting attendees and used for directing of other messages to participants when they have accessed the system.

15. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic;

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

a description; and

at least one keyword.

16. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

an agenda, said agenda including at least one goal associated with the meeting, at least one action item associated with the goal and being available to participants for viewing; and

means for representing the access of the meeting by the participant, thereby informing participants of meeting access by other participants.

21. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 16, claim 17, claim 18, claim 19 or claim 20, wherein the meeting space further comprises an administration room, said administration room comprising:

means for creating new meetings;

means for modifying the meeting;

means for adding and deleting participants from the meeting;

means for modifying features of the meeting space;

means for creating and modifying documents for the library room;

means for creating and modifying bookmarks for the library room;

means for creating and modifying multimedia documents for the theatre room;

means for updating and modifying tools; and

means for modifying the agenda.

22. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 21, wherein one of the confirmation of the completion of an action item by the coordinator and the updating of an action item by the coordinator will forward at least one message to at least one of the administration room, the participant, the meeting space, the library room, the theatre room and the tools.

23. An electronic meeting center, as described in claim 21 further comprising a user-friendly, question and answer interface for creating and modifying meetings, adding and deleting participants from the meeting, modifying features of the meeting space, creating and modifying documents and bookmarks for the library and creating and modifying multimedia documents for the theatre.

17. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic;

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

a library room, said library room including at least one virtual bookshelf, said bookshelf containing at least one document relevant to the meeting, said document having been made accessible in the library room by the coordinator.

18. A library room as described in claim 17, further comprising at least one bookmark, said bookmark referencing one of a document, an Internet Website, and a local network information item relevant to the meeting, said bookmark being made accessible to all participants by the coordinator.

19. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic;

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants; and

a theatre room, said theatre room including at least one multimedia document relevant to the meeting, said multimedia document having been made accessible in the theatre by the coordinator.

20. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic;

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants; and

a series of tools for use of meeting participants, said tools including topical email, a notebook, an appointment book and a calculator.

24. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

wherein the message is a document status message, said document status message being directed to the library room as document availability and updating are affected.

25. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

wherein the message is a multimedia document status message, said multimedia document status message being directed to the theatre room as multimedia document availability and updating are affected.

26. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

wherein the message is an agenda update message, said agenda update message being directed to the meeting space for viewing by interested participants.

27. An electronic meeting center, comprising:

at least one persistent, server-based meeting;

said meeting having a unique identifying name and a unique identifying topic;

at least one identified participant, said participant being authorized to attend said meeting;

at least one identified coordinator, said coordinator being authorized to add and remove participants;

at least one persistent, server-based virtual meeting space, said meeting space being associated with said meeting;

means for said participants and said coordinator to access the meeting space from remote locations;

at least one message, said message including information relevant to the meeting and being identified with the meeting through the name and the topic; and

a dialogue buffer, said buffer being associated with said meeting space and said meeting and being capable of storing a message for review by participants;

wherein the message is a general event message, said general event message being automatically generated when a participant accesses or leaves the meeting center and used to inform other participants of meeting attendees and used for directing of other messages to participants when they have accessed the system.