Accessing a calendar server to facilitate initiation of a scheduled call

• US 7,889,851 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2006
• Issued: 02/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shah, Krutarth M., Prabhune, Satyavrat A.
• Primary Examiner(s): DEANE JR, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US11/483,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20070263825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,681 Days
• Field of Search: 379/202.01, 379/203.01, 379/204.01, 379/205.01, 379/206.01, 379/207.01, 379/158
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/432 Arrangements for calling a subscriber at a specific time, e.g. morning call service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/565 relating to time schedule aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems

Abstract

A conference control server accesses a calendar server in order to identify calls scheduled by an organizer and to facilitate initiation of the calls at the scheduled time. A method for integrating the calendar server and the conference control server includes identifying a plurality of resources, which each have a resource identifier, and registering to receive notifications of updates to those resources. If update notifications are received, the conference control server determines meeting information for a scheduled conference indicated by the update notifications. The conference control server may also provide a portion of the meeting information to a resource identified by the meeting information.

Claims

1. A method for integrating a calendar server and a conference control server comprising:

identifying a plurality of conferencing resources, each of the conferencing resources having an associated resource identifier, each of the plurality of conferencing resources associated with at least one conferencing device;

for each of the conferencing resources, registering with a calendar server using the associated resource identifier to request notifications of updates to a calendar associated with the resource identifier, the notifications of updates indicative of at least one change to one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

receiving a first update notification from the calendar server, the first update notification indicating a first one of the resource identifiers;

receiving a second update notification from the calendar server, the second update notification indicating a second one of the resource identifiers;

in response to the first and second update notifications from the calendar server, retrieving at least one change to the one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

determining meeting information for a scheduled call indicated by the first update notification and the second update notification, the meeting information comprising a scheduled time and identifying a first one of the conferencing resources associated with the first resource identifier and a second one of the conferencing resources associated with the second resource identifier, the meeting information further comprising a contact identifier for the second conferencing resource; and

providing at least a portion of the meeting information to the first conferencing resource, the portion comprising the scheduled time and the contact identifier; and

transmitting at least a portion of the meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call to a call server to facilitate initiation of the scheduled call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the meeting information comprises:

sending a first query to the calendar server in response to receiving the first update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

sending a second query to the calendar server in response to receiving the second update notification, the query specifying the second resource identifier and a second time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the second resource identifier;

receiving a first response to the first query, the first response including a meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the first resource identifier; and

receiving a second response to the second query, the second response including the meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the second resource identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

sending a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

receiving a response to the query;

determining whether the response includes a meeting identifier associated with the scheduled call; and

if the response does not include the meeting identifier, deleting meeting information associated with the scheduled call from a meeting database.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the time period is selected to request the updates to the calendar made since a previous query was sent to the calendar server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

sending a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

receiving a response to the query;

determining that the response does not include a meeting identifier associated with any scheduled call;

determining one or more meeting identifiers from a meeting database, the meeting identifiers each identifying a scheduled call; and

for each of the meeting identifiers;

sending a second query specifying the meeting identifier to the calendar server;

receiving a second response to the second query;

determining whether the second response indicates that the calendar server has meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call indicated by the meeting identifier; and

if the calendar server does not have the meeting information, identifying the scheduled call corresponding to the meeting identifier as a deleted meeting.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the meeting information in a meeting database; and

periodically synchronizing with the calendar server in order to verify that the meeting database contains accurate meeting information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the meeting information further comprises an organizer and a subject, the method further comprising:

determining whether the scheduled call can be initiated given the meeting information; and

notifying the organizer of the determination.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact identifier is a fully qualified number.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the calendar server comprises MICROSOFT EXCHANGE.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising logic for integrating a calendar server and a conference control server, the logic operable when executed on a processor to:

identify a plurality of conferencing resources, each of the conferencing resources having an associated resource identifier, each of the plurality of conferencing resources associated with at least one conferencing device;

for each of the conferencing resources, register with a calendar server using the associated resource identifier to request notifications of updates to a calendar associated with the resource identifier, the notifications of updates indicative of at least one change to one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

receive a first update notification from the calendar server, the first update notification indicating a first one of the resource identifiers;

receive a second update notification from the calendar server, the second update notification indicating a second one of the resource identifiers;

in response to the first and second update notifications from the calendar server, retrieve at least one change to the one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

determine meeting information for a scheduled call indicated by the first update notification and the second update notification, the meeting information comprising a scheduled time and identifying a first one of the conferencing resources associated with the first resource identifier and a second one of the conferencing resources associated with the second resource identifier, the meeting information further comprising a contact identifier for the second conferencing resource; and

provide at least a portion of the meeting information to the first conferencing resource, the portion comprising the scheduled time and the contact identifier; and

transmit at least a portion of the meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call to a call server to facilitate initiation of the scheduled call.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein determining the meeting information comprises:

sending a first query to the calendar server in response to receiving the first update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

sending a second query to the calendar server in response to receiving the second update notification, the query specifying the second resource identifier and a second time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the second resource identifier;

receiving a first response to the first query, the first response including a meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the first resource identifier; and

receiving a second response to the second query, the second response including the meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the second resource identifier.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the logic is further operable to:

receive a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

send a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

receive a response to the query;

determine whether the response includes a meeting identifier associated with the scheduled call; and

if the response does not include the meeting identifier, delete meeting information associated with the scheduled call from a meeting database.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the time period is selected to request the updates to the calendar made since a previous query was sent to the calendar server.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the logic is further operable to:

receive a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

send a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

receive a response to the query;

determine that the response does not include a meeting identifier associated with any scheduled call;

determine one or more meeting identifiers from a meeting database, the meeting identifiers each identifying a scheduled call; and

for each of the meeting identifiers;

send a second query specifying the meeting identifier to the calendar server;

receive a second response to the second query;

determine whether the second response indicates that the calendar server has meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call indicated by the meeting identifier; and

if the calendar server does not have the meeting information, identify the scheduled call corresponding to the meeting identifier as a deleted meeting.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the logic is further operable to:

store the meeting information in a meeting database; and

periodically synchronize with the calendar server in order to verify that the meeting database contains accurate meeting information.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the meeting information further comprises an organizer and a subject, the logic further operable to:

determine whether the scheduled call can be initiated given the meeting information; and

notify the organizer of the determination.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the contact identifier is a fully qualified number.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the calendar server comprises MICROSOFT EXCHANGE.

19. A device for integrating a calendar server and a conference control server comprising:

a calendar adapter operable to;

identify a plurality of conferencing resources, each of the conferencing resources having an associated resource identifier, each of the plurality of conferencing resources associated with at least one conferencing device;

for each of the conferencing resources, register with a calendar server using the associated resource identifier to request notifications of updates to a calendar associated with the resource identifier, the notifications of updates indicative of at least one change to one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

receive a first update notification from the calendar server, the first update notification indicating a first one of the resource identifiers; and

receive a second update notification from the calendar server, the second update notification indicating a second one of the resource identifiers;

in response to the first and second update notifications from the calendar server, retrieve at least one change to the one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

a conference controller operable to determine meeting information for a scheduled call indicated by the first update notification and the second update notification, the meeting information comprising a scheduled time and identifying a first one of the conferencing resources associated with the first resource identifier and a second one of the conferencing resources associated with the second resource identifier, the meeting information further comprising a contact identifier for the second conferencing resource;

the conference controller further operable to provide at least a portion of the meeting information to the first conferencing resource, the portion comprising the scheduled time and the contact identifier;

the conference controller further operable to transmit at least a portion of the meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call to a call server to facilitate initiation of the scheduled call.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein determining the meeting information comprises:

sending a first query to the calendar server in response to receiving the first update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier;

sending a second query to the calendar server in response to receiving the second update notification, the query specifying the second resource identifier and a second time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the second resource identifier;

receiving a first response to the first query, the first response including a meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the first resource identifier; and

receiving a second response to the second query, the second response including the meeting identifier, the scheduled time, and the second resource identifier.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the calendar adapter is further operable to:

receive a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

send a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier; and

receive a response to the query; and

wherein the conference controller is further operable to;

determine whether the response includes a meeting identifier associated with the scheduled call; and

if the response does not include the meeting identifier, delete meeting information associated with the scheduled call from a meeting database.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the calendar adapter selects the time period to request the updates to the calendar made since a previous query was sent to the calendar server.

23. The device of claim 19, wherein the calendar adapter is further operable to:

receive a third update notification from the calendar server, the third update notification indicating the first resource identifier;

send a query to the calendar server in response to receiving the third update notification, the query specifying the first resource identifier and a time period and requesting the updates to the calendar associated with the first resource identifier; and

receive a response to the query;

wherein the conference controller is further operable to;

determine that the response does not include a meeting identifier associated with any scheduled call;

determine one or more meeting identifiers from a meeting database, the meeting identifiers each identifying a scheduled call; and

wherein, for each of the meeting identifiers;

the calendar adapter is further operable to send a second query specifying the meeting identifier to the calendar server and receive a second response to the second query; and

the conference controller is further operable to determine whether the second response indicates that the calendar server has meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call indicated by the meeting identifier and, if the calendar server does not have the meeting information, identify the scheduled call corresponding to the meeting identifier as a deleted meeting.

24. The device of claim 19, wherein the conference controller is further operable to:

store the meeting information in a meeting database; and

periodically synchronize with the calendar server in order to verify that the meeting database contains accurate meeting information.

25. The device of claim 19, wherein:

the meeting information further comprises an organizer and a subject; and

the conference controller is further operable to;

determine whether the scheduled call can be initiated given the meeting information; and

notify the organizer of the determination.

26. The device of claim 19, wherein the contact identifier is a fully qualified number.

27. The device of claim 19, wherein the calendar server comprises MICROSOFT EXCHANGE.

28. A system for integrating a calendar server and a conference control server comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of conferencing resources, each of the conferencing resources having an associated resource identifier;

for each of the conferencing resources, means for registering with a calendar server using the associated resource identifier to request notifications of updates to a calendar associated with the resource identifier;

means for receiving a first update notification from the calendar server, the first update notification indicating a first one of the resource identifiers;

means for receiving a second update notification from the calendar server, the second update notification indicating a second one of the resource identifiers;

in response to the first and second update notifications from the calendar server, means for retrieving at least one change to the one or more scheduled events associated with the plurality of conferencing resources;

means for determining meeting information for a scheduled call indicated by the first update notification and the second update notification, the meeting information comprising a scheduled time and identifying a first one of the conferencing resources associated with the first resource identifier and a second one of the conferencing resources associated with the second resource identifier, the meeting information further comprising a contact identifier for the second conferencing resource; and

means for providing at least a portion of the meeting information to the first conferencing resource, the portion comprising the scheduled time and the contact identifier;

and means for transmitting at least a portion of the meeting information corresponding to the scheduled call to a call server to facilitate initiation of the scheduled call.