Method and system for participant automatic re-invite and updating during conferencing

• US 7,308,476 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2004
• Issued: 12/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mannaru, Durga D., Vellanki, Vivekanand
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): BELANI, KISHIN G
• Application Number:
  US10/709,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031290A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 379/202.01, 379/210.01, 348/14.08, 348/14.09, 348/14.12, 725/89, 725/102, 725/134
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A method for conferencing may include monitoring a status of participants in a conference and recording the conference in response to at least one participant being disconnected or exiting the conference. Another embodiment of the present invention may also include transmitting a re-invite signal to any participant that is disconnected or exits the conference in response to the participant being reconnectable or transmitting a request to rejoin the conference. A further embodiment of the present invention may include replaying a recording of the conference from a disconnect or exit time to a present time for each participant, that is involuntarily disconnected or exits the conference and communicates an indication of an intent to return, in response to a rejoining participant rejoining the conference.

Claims

1. A method for conferencing, comprising:

monitoring a status of participants in a conference;

transmitting a re-invite signal to any participant that is disconnected from the conference in response to the participant being reconnectable;

recording the conference from a disconnect time of any disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant being disconnected; and

discontinuing to record the conference and replaying the recording of the conference to the disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the re-invite signal to any participant that exits the conference in response to the participant transmitting a request to rejoin the conference.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding a participant to a disconnected participant list for each participant that is disconnected from a conference.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

monitoring the disconnected participant list;

recording the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list; and

discontinuing to record the conference in response to the disconnected participant list being empty.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting an interface to control replaying the recording of the conference by the rejoining participant.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the rejoining participant from a disconnected participant list in response to completion of replaying the recording of the conference.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the disconnect or exit time for each rejoining participant from a timestamp associated with each rejoining participant.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding each participant to a participant list in response to each participant joining the conference.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising removing any participant from the participant list in response to the participant exiting the conference.

10. The method of claim of claim 1, wherein conferencing comprises at least one of Web-based conferencing, video conferencing, audio conferencing, teleconferencing, instant messaging and Internet Relay Chat.

11. A method for conferencing, comprising:

monitoring a status of each participant in a conference;

adding a participant to a disconnected participant list in response to the participant being disconnected;

recording the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list;

monitoring the disconnected participant list;

continuing to record the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list;

discontinuing to record the conference in response to the disconnected participant list being empty; and

replaying a recording of the conference from a disconnect time of a disconnected participant to a present time for each participant in the disconnected participant list in response to a disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising adding an identification and a timestamp to the disconnected participant list for each participant that is involuntarily disconnected or exits the conference and indicates an intent to return.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising presenting an interface to the rejoining participant to control replaying the recording.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising removing the rejoining participant from the disconnected participant list in response to completion of replaying the recording of the conference or the disconnected participant skipping replaying the recording.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining the disconnect time for each rejoining participant from a timestamp associated with each rejoining participant.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting a re-invite signal to any participant on the disconnected participant list in response to the participant being able to rejoin the conference.

17. A system for conferencing, comprising:

at least one server; and

a conferencing function operable on the at least one server to monitor a status of participants in a conference;

means for recording the conference from a disconnect time of any disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant being disconnected; and

means for discontinuing to record the conference and replaying the recording of the conference to the disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a participant list to store an identification of each participant in the conference.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising a disconnected participant list to store an identification associated with each participant that is disconnected from the conference.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for monitoring the disconnected participant list;

means for continuing to record the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list; and

means for discontinuing to record the conference in response to the disconnected participant list being empty.

21. The system of claim 20, means for replaying a recording of the conference from a disconnect or exit time to a present time for each participant in the disconnected participant list in response to a rejoining participant rejoining the conference.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising an interface presentable to the rejoining participant to control replaying the recording.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for removing the rejoining participant from the disconnected participant list in response to completion of replaying the recording of the conference.

24. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for transmitting a re-invite signal to any disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant being able to rejoin the conference.

25. A method for making a system for conferencing, comprising:

providing at least one server; and

providing a conference function operable on the at least one server to monitor a status of participants in a conference

providing means to record the conference in response to at least one participant being disconnected from the conference; and

providing means for replaying a recording of the conference from a disconnect time to a current time for each participant disconnected in response to a disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising forming a disconnected participant list to store an identification associated with each participant that is disconnected from the conference.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

providing means for monitoring the disconnected participant list;

providing means for continuing to record the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list; and

providing means for discontinuing to record the conference in response to the disconnected participant list being empty.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising providing means for replaying a recording of the conference from a disconnect time to a present time for each participant in the disconnected participant list in response to a rejoining participant rejoining the conference.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing means for forming an interface presentable to the rejoining participant to control replaying the recording.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing means for removing the rejoining participant from the disconnected participant list in response to completion of replaying the recording of the conference.

31. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing means for transmitting a re-invite signal to any disconnected participant being able to rejoin the conference.

32. A computer-readable medium comprising one from the group consisting of an electronic medium, a magnetic medium, a semiconductor medium, having computer-executable instructions stored therein, the instructions when executed causing a processing device to perform:

monitoring a status of participants in a conference;

transmitting a re-invite signal to any participant that is disconnected from the conference in response to the participant being able to rejoin the conference;

recording the conference from a disconnect time of any disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant being disconnected; and

discontinuing to record the conference and replaying the recording of the conference to the disconnected participant in response to the disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

33. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 32, further comprising adding a participant to a disconnected participant list for each participant that is disconnected from the conference.

34. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 33, further comprising:

monitoring the disconnected participant list;

recording the conference in response to at least one participant being in the disconnected participant list; and

discontinuing to record the conference in response to the disconnected participant list being empty.

35. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 34, further comprising replaying a recording of the conference in response to a disconnected participant rejoining the conference.

36. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 35, further comprising presenting an interface to control replaying the recording of the conference by a rejoining participant.

37. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 35, further comprising removing the rejoining participant from the disconnected participant list in response to completion of replaying the recording of the conference.

38. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 32, further comprising adding each participant to a participant list in response to each participant joining the conference.

39. The computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 38, further comprising removing any participant from the participant list in response to the participant exiting the conference without an indication of returning.