Method of, and system for, webcasting with just-in-time resource provisioning, automated telephone signal acquisition and streaming, and fully-automated event archival
First Claim
1. Apparatus for webcasting over a computer network, comprising:
- one or more processors;
a first subsystem accessed over the computer network and including code executed by a processor for enabling an entity to reserve a webcast event, to obtain an event identifier, an access code, and an attendee URL, where the webcast event is a web-based audio event for casting speech of a speaker to one or more audience members over the computer network;
a second subsystem connected to a telephone network and including code executed by a processor for enabling the entity to initiate the webcast event by verifying that a value derived from a one-way hash of the event identifier entered by the entity together with a shared secret matches the access code entered by the entity, and code executed by a processor for generating a data stream from an audio signal derived from speech of a speaker, wherein the speech of the speaker is received by the second subsystem over the telephone network; and
a third subsystem accessible over the computer network and including code executed by a processor responsive to a client browser associated with a listener, who is an audience member, requesting the attendee URL for returning to the client browser a data structure including a stream URL, wherein the stream URL enables a streaming media player to obtain the data stream so that the listener can hear the speaker during the webcast event;
wherein the data structure is generated dynamically based on a current state of the webcast event.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multimedia business communications platform enables conference casting over a network. End users or so-called “audience members” participate in conference casts from anywhere on the Internet or behind an enterprise firewall using a standard Web browser running a streaming media player. The conference platform typically includes a number of subsystems: a Web reservation subsystem, a voice server subsystem, a content storage subsystem, a monitoring data subsystem, an attendee access subsystem, and an archive subsystem. Web reservation subsystem provides a mechanism that enables an entity to make an event reservation. Web reservation subsystem typically includes a database and an associated database management system. Voice server subsystem validates a user and converts an incoming telephone signal (i.e., the conference call) to an output data stream. Attendee access subsystem responds to attendee requests and returns information (e.g., a data structure such as a stream metafile) that directs an attendee'"'"'s streaming media player on how to join the conference cast. Content storage subsystem is used to manage event information and, under the control of the archive subsystem, to archive the event files. The monitoring data subsystem comprises a set of monitoring agents distributed throughout the network. Using these components, the system implements just-in-time resource provisioning, automated signal acquisition and streaming, and automated archiving upon event completion.
30 Citations
17 Claims
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1. Apparatus for webcasting over a computer network, comprising:
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one or more processors; a first subsystem accessed over the computer network and including code executed by a processor for enabling an entity to reserve a webcast event, to obtain an event identifier, an access code, and an attendee URL, where the webcast event is a web-based audio event for casting speech of a speaker to one or more audience members over the computer network; a second subsystem connected to a telephone network and including code executed by a processor for enabling the entity to initiate the webcast event by verifying that a value derived from a one-way hash of the event identifier entered by the entity together with a shared secret matches the access code entered by the entity, and code executed by a processor for generating a data stream from an audio signal derived from speech of a speaker, wherein the speech of the speaker is received by the second subsystem over the telephone network; and a third subsystem accessible over the computer network and including code executed by a processor responsive to a client browser associated with a listener, who is an audience member, requesting the attendee URL for returning to the client browser a data structure including a stream URL, wherein the stream URL enables a streaming media player to obtain the data stream so that the listener can hear the speaker during the webcast event; wherein the data structure is generated dynamically based on a current state of the webcast event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 13)
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5. A method of webcasting, comprising:
- reserving a webcast event by providing an entity with an event identifier, access code and attendee URL;
wherein the webcast event is an audio event;
initiating the webcast event (a) by verifying that a value derived from a one-way hash of the event identifier entered by the entity together with a shared secret matches the access code entered by the entity, and (b) upon verification, encoding speech data of a speaker into a data stream;
generating a data structure that includes at least a first stream URL at which the data stream can be obtained;
wherein the data structure is generated dynamically based on a current state of webcast event;
enabling a listener, who is an audience member, to access the data stream by returning to a client browser launched to the attendee URL a the data structure and generating an archive of the webcast event. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- reserving a webcast event by providing an entity with an event identifier, access code and attendee URL;
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14. A machine-implemented method of webcasting an audio conference event, comprising:
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initiating the webcast event (a) by verifying that a value derived from a one-way hash of the event identifier entered by the entity together with a shared secret matches the access code entered by the entity, and (b) upon verification, encoding speech data of a speaker into a data stream; dynamically generating a data structure based on a current state of at least one audio resource to be used to deliver the webcast event, wherein the data structure includes at least a stream URL at which the data stream can be obtained by a client browser; and returning the data structure to a requesting client browser. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification