Electronic calendar with group scheduling and storage of user and resource profiles

• US 7,082,402 B2
• Filed: 06/19/1998
• Issued: 07/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Conmy, Douglas Walter, Slapikoff, Robert, Beckhardt, Steven Robert, Banks-Binici, John
• Primary Examiner(s): MEINECKE DIAZ, SUSANNA M
• Application Number:
  US09/100,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20010014866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,958 Days
• Field of Search: 705 7- 9, 345/963
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/12 Use of codes for handling textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/151 Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

A system for scheduling time intervals for a plurality of users comprises a database associated with one or more server means for storing a profile for each potential invitee of the system. Each invitee profile comprises user profiles that have information regarding available and unavailable times for that user and the electronic mail address for the user and resource profiles having information about the available times for a particular resource such as a room or equipment. A request generator connected over a network to the one or more server generates a request for allocation of a time interval for one or more of the plurality of invitees. The system then provides a busy time determination device that gathers the profiles for the plurality of invitees that were requested by the request generating means and that are available in the databases and determines whether those invitees are available during the time interval requested by the request generating means. For all available invitees, the electronic mail address in the profile is used to send each available requested invitee an invitation to attend at the requested time interval.

Claims

1. A system for scheduling time intervals for a plurality of invitees comprising:

database means in communication with one or more server means for storing one or more invitee profiles for one or more potential invitees of the system, the one or more invitee profiles comprising user profiles wherein each user profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for that user and an electronic mail address for the user;

request generating means, connected over a network to the one or more server means, for generating a request for allocation of a time interval for the one or more potential invitees;

busy time determination means for gathering the one or more invitee profiles for the one or more potential invitees that were requested by the request generating means and that are available in the database means and automatically determining whether those one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested by the request generating means;

means for scheduling a meeting by using the electronic mail address in the invitee profile to automatically send each of the one or more potential invitees available an electronic mail invitation to attend at the time interval requested based on the automatic determination made by the busy time determination means as to whether those one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested, wherein each of the one or more potential invitees that receives an electronic mail invitation becomes an invitee;

means for enabling the invitee to respond to the electronic mail invitation; and

means for automatically updating the invitee'"'"'s invitee profile based on the invitee'"'"'s response to the electronic mail invitation.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the invitee profiles comprise resource profiles regarding one or more resources wherein each resource profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for the resource.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more resources include a plurality of rooms and wherein the profile comprises information about the capacity of each room.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the one or more resources include equipment.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

6. A system for scheduling time intervals for a plurality of invitees comprising:

one or more databases, in communication with one or more servers, which store one or more invitee profiles for one or more potential invitees of the system, the one or more invitee profiles comprising user profiles wherein each user profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for that user and the electronic mail address for the user;

one or more user workstations, connected over a network to the one or more servers, operating a calendaring system that permits a user to request allocation of a time interval for the one or more potential invitees;

wherein the calendaring system gathers the profiles for the one or more potential invitees that are available in the one or more databases and automatically determines whether those one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested;

wherein the calendaring system automatically invites the one or more potential invitees, based on the automatic determination made by the calendaring system as to whether the one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested, by using the electronic mail address stored in the invitee profile for the one or more potential invitees to automatically send an electronic mail invitation to the one or more potential invitees if the one or more potential invitees are available, wherein each of the one or more potential invitees that receives an electronic mail invitation becomes an invitee;

wherein the calendaring system enables the invitee to respond to the electronic mail invitation; and

wherein the calendaring system automatically updates the invitee'"'"'s invitee profile based on the invitee'"'"'s response to the electronic mail invitation.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the invitee profiles comprise resource profiles regarding one or more resources, wherein each resource profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for the one or more resources.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more resources include rooms and wherein the profile comprises information about the capacity of the rooms.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more resources include equipment.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

11. A process for scheduling time intervals for a plurality of invitees comprising:

storing one or more invitee profiles for one or more potential invitees of the system in a database in communication with one or more servers, the one or more invitee profiles comprising user profiles wherein each user profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for that user and an electronic mail address for the user;

receiving a request for allocation of a time interval for the one or more potential invitees from a remote workstation over a network at the one or more servers;

gathering the profiles for the one or more potential invitees that are available in the database;

determining automatically whether those one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested;

inviting the one or more potential invitees to attend at the time interval requested automatically, based on the automatic determination made as to whether the one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested, by using the electronic mail address stored in the profile for those one or more potential invitees to automatically send an electronic mail invitation to the one or more potential invitees if the one or more potential invitees are available, wherein each of the one or more potential invitees that receives an electronic mail invitation becomes an invitee;

enabling the invitee to respond to the electronic mail invitation; and

automatically updating the invitee'"'"'s invitee profile based on the invitee'"'"'s response to the electronic mail invitation.

12. The process of claim 11, wherein the invitee profiles comprise resource profiles regarding one or more resources, wherein each resource profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for the one or more resources.

13. The process of claim 12, wherein the one or more resources include rooms and wherein the profile comprises information about the capacity of the rooms.

14. The process of claim 12, wherein the one more resources include equipment.

15. The process of claim 11, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

16. A processor usable medium having processor readable code embodied therein for enabling group calendaring between a plurality of users on a computer system, the system comprising a database, associated with one or more servers, which stores one or more invitee profiles for one or more potential invitees of the system, the invitee profiles comprising user profiles wherein each user profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for that user and an electronic mail address for the user, the processor readable code in the processor usable medium comprising:

processor readable code for causing a processor to receive a request for allocation of a time interval for one or more potential invitees;

processor readable code for causing a processor to gather the profiles for the one or more potential invitees;

processor readable code for causing a processor to automatically determine whether those one or more potential invitees are available during the requested time interval;

processor readable code for causing a processor to automatically invite the one or more potential invitees to attend a meeting at the requested time interval, based on the automatic determination made as to whether the one or more potential invitees are available during the time interval requested, by using the electronic mail address stored in the profile for each invitee to send an electronic mail invitation to the one or more potential invitees if the one or more potential invitees are available, wherein each of the one or more potential invitees that receives an electronic mail invitation becomes an invitee;

processor readable code for causing a processor to enable the invitee to respond to the electronic mail invitation; and

processor readable code for causing a processor to automatically update the invitee'"'"'s profile based on the invitee'"'"'s response to the electronic mail invitation.

17. The medium of claim 16, wherein the invitee profiles comprise resource profiles regarding one or more resources, wherein each resource profile comprises information regarding available and unavailable times for the one or more resources.

18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more resources include rooms and wherein the profile comprises information about the capacity of the rooms.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more resources include equipment.

20. The medium of claim 16, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

21. A system for scheduling an event, comprising:

a database that stores availability information for one or more potential invitees to the event;

a server operable to access the database and retrieve the availability information; and

a user system operable to send to the server a scheduling request specifying a list of invitees, a date, a start time, and an end time and/or a duration which determines the end time, wherein

the server is further operable to;

receive the scheduling request;

retrieve from the database availability information for one or more of the invitees listed in the request;

determine automatically whether or not the one or more invitees are available to attend the event based on the availability information;

send an electronic mail invitation to one or more of the invitees listed in the request automatically based on the automatic determination made as to whether the one or more invitees are available to attend the event;

receive from an invitee a response to the electronic mail invitation; and

modify the availability information for the invitee automatically if the invitee'"'"'s response indicates that the invitee accepts the electronic mail invitation, wherein the availability information is modified to indicate that the invitee is busy between at least the start time and end time on the date specified in the request.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the server determines whether or not the one or more invitees are available to attend the event by examining the availability information and determining whether or not the one or more invitees are busy between the start time and end time on the date specified in the scheduling request.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the server is further operable to determine one or more alternative start times for the event, wherein the determination is based, at least in part, on the retrieved availability information.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the determination of the one or more alternative start times is further based on weighting values assigned to one or more of the invitees.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the scheduling request further specifies an event location and the availability information for one of the invitees includes the location of the invitee.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the server is further operable to take into account a travel time from the location of the invitee to the event location in determining whether or not the invitee is available to attend the event.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein availability information for an invitee comprises profile information and calendar information.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the profile information for an invitee comprises information regarding the invitee'"'"'s work hours, the time zone in which the invitee works, and the location where the invitee works.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the calendar information comprises information regarding events that have been scheduled for the invitee.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

31. A method for scheduling an event, comprising:

storing availability information for one or more potential invitees to the event;

receiving from an event coordinator a scheduling request specifying a list of invitees, a date, a start time, and an end time and/or a duration which determines the end time;

retrieving availability information for one or more of the invitees listed in the request in response to receiving the request;

determining automatically whether or not the one or more invitees are available to attend the event;

sending an electronic mail invitation to one or more of the invitees listed in the request automatically based on the automatic determination made as to whether the one or more invitees are available to attend the event;

receiving from an invitee a response to the electronic mail invitation; and

modifying the availability information for the invitee automatically in response to receiving the invitee'"'"'s response if the invitee'"'"'s response indicates that the invitee accepts the electronic mail invitation, wherein the availability information is modified to indicate that the invitee is busy between at least the start time and end time on the date specified in the request.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein availability information for an invitee comprises profile information and calendar information.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the profile information for an invitee comprises information regarding the invitee'"'"'s work hours, the time zone in which the invitee works, and the location where the invitee works.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the calendar information comprises information regarding events that have been scheduled for the invitee.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.

36. A computer readable medium, having encoded thereon a computer program operative to perform the method comprising

storing availability information for one or more potential invitees to the event;

receiving from an event coordinator a scheduling request specifying a list of invitees, a date, a start time, and an end time and/or a duration which determines the end time;

retrieving availability information for one or more of the invitees listed in the request in response to receiving the request;

determining automatically whether or not the one or more invitees are available to attend the event;

sending an electronic mail invitation to one or more of the invitees listed in the request automatically based on the automatic determination made as to whether the one or more invitees are available to attend the event;

receiving from an invitee a response to the electronic mail invitation; and

modifying the availability information for the invitee automatically in response to receiving the invitee'"'"'s response if the invitee'"'"'s response indicates that the invitee accepts the electronic mail invitation, wherein the availability information is modified to indicate that the invitee is busy between at least the start time and end time on the date specified in the request.

37. The medium of claim 36, wherein the plurality of response options further includes assigning a substitute attendee for the meeting and requesting for re-scheduling the meeting.