User interface for a system and process for providing dynamic communication access and information awareness in an interactive peripheral display
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for providing peripheral awareness of a contact availability status for at least one entity, said computer executable instructions comprising:
- providing a user interface through which a user specifies each entity whose contact availability is to be determined;
accepting contact availability data representing at least one contact method for each entity from at least one electronic information source;
dynamically determining a real-time availability status of each entity for each contact method; and
graphically representing the real-time availability status of each entity via a peripheral awareness display area having a persistent window rendered on at least one display device, wherein graphically representing the real-time availability of each entity comprises displaying a graphical representation of each entity using a dynamic thumbnail, and wherein each dynamic thumbnail comprises a combination of a ticket which defines the entity and a viewer for displaying the ticket.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The system and method of the present invention provides a user interface for providing peripheral awareness of information to a user. The information to be provided is either determined automatically, or specified by the user. Once the information to be provided is determined or specified, it is automatically tracked or watched via at least one conventional communications interface. Current information is then automatically dynamically provided in an interactive peripheral display which minimizes any potential distraction to the user. Determining or specifying, tracking or watching, and providing the information is accomplished using at least one customizable dynamic encapsulated object, a “ticket,” that when paired with a “viewer,” provides peripheral awareness of information to the user. Further, in one embodiment, the tickets are sharable among users, and may be copied, cut, pasted, saved, transmitted, dragged and dropped from web pages, etc., like any other electronic file using conventional techniques.
167 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for providing peripheral awareness of a contact availability status for at least one entity, said computer executable instructions comprising:
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providing a user interface through which a user specifies each entity whose contact availability is to be determined; accepting contact availability data representing at least one contact method for each entity from at least one electronic information source; dynamically determining a real-time availability status of each entity for each contact method; and graphically representing the real-time availability status of each entity via a peripheral awareness display area having a persistent window rendered on at least one display device, wherein graphically representing the real-time availability of each entity comprises displaying a graphical representation of each entity using a dynamic thumbnail, and wherein each dynamic thumbnail comprises a combination of a ticket which defines the entity and a viewer for displaying the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A computer system for representing contact availability status for an entity, comprising:
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a component that receives from a user a selection of at least one entity out of a plurality of entities whose contact availability is to be represented; a component that receives contact availability data representing at least one contact method for each of the selected entities from at least one electronic information source; a component that determines a contact availability status of each selected entity for each contact method based on the received contact availability data; and a component that displays within a peripheral awareness display area the contact availability status of each selected entity, wherein displaying the availability status of each selected entity comprises displaying a graphical representation of each entity using a dynamic thumbnail, and wherein each dynamic thumbnail comprises a combination of a ticket which defines the entity and a viewer for displaying the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for providing a contact availability status for at least one entity, said computer executable instructions comprising:
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accepting contact availability data representing at least one contact method for each entity from at least one electronic information source; dynamically determining a real-time availability status of each entity for each contact method; and graphically representing the real-time availability stats of at least one entity via a display area rendered on at least one display device, wherein graphically representing the real-time availability of the at least one entity comprises displaying a graphical representation of the at least one entity using a dynamic thumbnail, and wherein each dynamic thumbnail comprises a combination of a ticket which defines the entity and a viewer for displaying the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification