Distributed system for interactive collaboration
First Claim
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1. A method of using a computer network for interactive collaboration, the method comprising:
- creating a collaborative environment for members of a team in communication with the computer network;
in the collaborative environment, collecting information from the members of the team through a sequence of multiple different collaborative activities limiting each of a plurality of subsets, each of one or more of the members, to explicitly defined rights to perform various functions with respect to providing collaborative input, each collaborative activity in the sequence including an interactive forum having a particular right with respect to how a particular member subset provides collaborative input; and
facilitating a collaboratively derived decision based on the collected information.
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Abstract
A distribution management system can facilitate synchronous and asynchronous communications, take advantage of electronic scheduling tools, support a facilitator paradigm, and store meeting communications for later retrieval. The system can create a collaborative environment for members of a team in communication with a computer network. An interactive forum can be provided in the collaborative environment in a manner offering varying degrees of structure for collecting information from the members of the team. The information can then be used to arrive at a collaboratively derived decision.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of using a computer network for interactive collaboration, the method comprising:
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creating a collaborative environment for members of a team in communication with the computer network; in the collaborative environment, collecting information from the members of the team through a sequence of multiple different collaborative activities limiting each of a plurality of subsets, each of one or more of the members, to explicitly defined rights to perform various functions with respect to providing collaborative input, each collaborative activity in the sequence including an interactive forum having a particular right with respect to how a particular member subset provides collaborative input; and facilitating a collaboratively derived decision based on the collected information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for interactive collaboration over a computer network, the apparatus comprising:
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a collaborative environment for members of a team in communication with the computer network; and in the collaborative environment, multiple different interactive forums supporting a sequence of collaborative activities limiting each of a plurality of subsets, each of one or more of the members, to explicitly defined rights to perform various functions with respect to providing collaborative input to arrive at a collaboratively derived decision, each collaborative activity in the sequence implemented in one of the interactive forums having a particular right with respect to how a particular member subset provides collaborative input. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for providing interactive collaboration, the system comprising:
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an interface coupled to a computer network; a processor coupled to the interface that creates a collaborative environment for members of a team in communication with the server over the computer network to collect information from the members of the team used to arrive at a collaboratively derived decision, the collaborative environment having multiple different interactive forums supporting a sequence of collaborative activities limiting each of a plurality of subsets, each of one or more of the members, to explicitly defined rights to perform various functions with respect to providing collaborative input, each collaborative activity in the sequence implemented in one of the interactive forums having a particular right with respect to how a particular member subset provides collaborative input; and a data store coupled to the processor and storing the information from the members in the interactive forum for later retrieval.
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Specification