Recurring meeting schedule wizard

• US 7,693,736 B1
• Filed: 10/30/2006
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Chu, Christopher, Overmyer, D. Michael, Doshi, Brijen, Wang, Dongliang
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett, Scott L
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, ALAN S
• Application Number:
  US11/554,497
• Time in Patent Office: 1,254 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and systems for scheduling recurring calendar items. More specifically, a recurring meeting may be scheduled between participants where the recurring meeting includes at least two different meetings that are set to occur at two different times with a determined periodicity. Allowable dates and times for the recurring meeting can be scheduled based on a number of criteria defined such as the availability of the participants for all meeting times and the availability of participants for certain meeting times.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying, by a recurring meeting manager residing on a server or communication endpoint, participants of a recurring meeting;

receiving, from a user, input at the recurring meeting manager, the input indicating a user-desired periodicity of the recurring meeting, the user-desired periodicity comprising one or more of;

a desired day of week, a desired week of month, a desired day of month, and a desired time of day;

defining, by the recurring meeting manager, a minimum required availability criteria for the participants in association with the recurring meeting;

determining, by the recurring meeting manager, an individual threshold for availability associated with each participant;

determining, by the recurring meeting manager, an overall attendance threshold for the recurring meeting;

analyzing, by the recurring meeting manager, a schedule of each participant included in the identified participants;

identifying, by the recurring meeting manager, at least a first occurrence in the recurring meeting and at least a second occurrence in the recurring meeting, wherein the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence satisfy the individual threshold of each participant and the overall attendance threshold, and wherein the at least a second occurrence differs from the user desired periodicity and also differs from the at least a first occurrence in one or more of;

the desired day of week, the desired week of month, the desired day of month, and the desired time of day; and

performing, by the recurring meeting manager, either of the following substeps;

(i) ranking, by the recurring meeting manager, the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence in a ranked list and then providing the ranked list to the user, wherein the user to selects at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence from the list; and

(ii) selecting, by the recurring meeting manager, at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence, based on a predefined relative ranking of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence;

wherein the selected at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the selected at least a second occurrence have a first periodicity that is within a predetermined threshold of the user-desired periodicity, and wherein the first periodicity is non-uniform.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising suggesting, via a user interface, the identified at least a first occurrence and the identified at a least second occurrence to an originator of the recurring meeting.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum required availability criteria is chosen from a group of criteria comprising at least one of the following:

total availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent availability for all participants for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent of participants available for the at least a first occurrence;

percent of participants available for the at least a second occurrence;

availability for each participant for the at least a first occurrence; and

availability for each participant for the at least a second occurrence.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein percent availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting is determined by dividing the number of times a participant is available for all of the occurrences by the number of occurrences in the recurring meeting.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining availability statistics for each participant in association with the recurring meeting;

preparing a representation of the availability statistics for an originator of the recurring meeting; and

displaying the representation of the availability statistics to the originator.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

allowing the originator to choose a recurring meeting time;

receiving the choice of the recurring meeting time; and

sending an invitation to all identified participants other than the originator to join the recurring meeting.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an importance of attending the recurring meeting for each participant; and

ensuring that a participant with a required importance is available for the identified recurring meeting time.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the importance for at least one participant included in the intended participants varies between the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-desired periodicity is non-uniform.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein (i) is selected.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein (ii) is selected.

12. A communications endpoint comprising a computer readable medium tangibly embodying executable instructions operable to perform, when executed by a processor, a method, the method comprising:

identifying participants of a recurring meeting;

receiving, from a user, input at the recurring meeting manager, the input indicating a user-desired periodicity of the recurring meeting, the user-desired periodicity comprising one or more of;

a desired day of week, a desired week of month, a desired day of month, and a desired time of day;

defining a minimum required availability criteria for the participants in association with the recurring meeting;

determining an individual threshold for availability associated with each participant;

determining an overall attendance threshold for the recurring meeting;

analyzing a schedule of each participant included in the identified participants;

identifying at least a first occurrence in the recurring meeting and at least a second occurrence in the recurring meeting, wherein the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence satisfy the individual threshold of each participant and the overall attendance threshold, and wherein the at least a second occurrence differs from the user desired periodicity and also differs from the at least a first occurrence in one or more of;

the desired day of week, the desired week of month, the desired day of month, and the desired time of day; and

causing one or more of the following substeps to be performed;

(i) ranking, by the recurring meeting manager, the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence in a ranked list and then providing the ranked list to the user, wherein the user selects at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence from the list; and

(ii) selecting at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence, based on a predefined relative ranking of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence;

wherein the selected at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the selected at least a second occurrence have a first periodicity that is within a predetermined threshold of the user-desired periodicity, and wherein the first periodicity is non-uniform.

13. A system for managing schedules, comprising a processor to execute instructions and memory, the memory including a calendar application comprising a recurring meeting manager operable to:

identify participants of a recurring meeting, the recurring meeting comprising multiple occurrences;

determine a user-desired periodicity of the recurring meeting, the user-desired periodicity comprising one or more of;

a desired day of week, a desired week of month, a desired day of month, and a desired time of day;

define a minimum required availability criteria for the participants in association with the recurring meeting;

determine an individual threshold for availability associated with each participant;

determine an overall attendance threshold for the recurring meeting;

analyze a schedule of each participant included in the identified participants;

identify at least a first occurrence in the recurring meeting and at least a second occurrence in the recurring meeting, wherein the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence satisfy the individual threshold of each participant and the overall attendance threshold, and wherein the at least a second occurrence differs from the user desired periodicity and also differs from the at least a first occurrence in one or more of;

the desired day of week, the desired week of month, the desired day of month, and the desired time of day; and

cause one or more of the following substeps to be performed;

(i) rank the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence in a ranked list and then providing the ranked list to the user, wherein the user selects at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence from the list; and

(ii) select at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence, based on a predefined relative ranking of the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence;

wherein the selected at least one of the at least a first occurrence and the selected at least a second occurrence have a first periodicity that is within a predetermined threshold of the user-desired periodicity, and wherein the first periodicity is non-uniform.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a server and wherein the calendar application is at least partially implemented by the server.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising a communication endpoint and wherein the calendar application is at least partially implemented by the communication endpoint.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the recurring meeting comprises at least a first and second occurrence, and wherein the minimum required availability criteria is selected from a group of criteria comprising at least one of the following:

total availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent availability for all participants for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting;

percent of participants available for the at least a first occurrence;

percent of participants available for the at least a second occurrence;

availability for each participant for the at least a first occurrence; and

availability for each participant for the at least a second occurrence.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein percent availability of each participant for all occurrences in the recurring meeting is determined by dividing the number of times a participant is available for all occurrences in the recurring meeting by the number of occurrences in the recurring meeting.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein percent availability for all participants for all occurrences in the recurring meeting is determined by dividing the number of participants available for all of the occurrences by the total number of participants invited to all occurrences in the recurring meeting.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the recurring meeting manager is further operable to determine availability statistics for each participant in association with the recurring meeting, prepare a representation of the availability statistics for an originator of the recurring meeting, and display the representation of the availability statistics to the originator.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the recurring meeting manager is further operable to allow the originator to choose a recurring meeting time, receive the choice of the recurring meeting time, and send an invitation to all identified participants other than the originator to join the recurring meeting.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the recurring meeting manager is further operable to identify an importance of attending the recurring meeting for each participant, and pick a recurring meeting time such that a participant with a required importance is available for the identified recurring meeting time.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the recurring meeting comprises at least a first and second occurrence, and wherein the importance for at least one participant included in the intended participants varies between the at least a first occurrence and the at least a second occurrence.

23. The system of claim 13, wherein the user-desired periodicity is non-uniform.