Meeting notification and modification service

• US 8,554,477 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coughlin, Stephen J., Meisels, Adrienne C., Greenberg, Steven E.
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US13/620,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073200A1
• Time in Patent Office: 389 Days
• Field of Search: 701/300, 701/465, 701/527, 701/533, 705/7.16, 705/7.18, 705/7.19
• US Class Current: 701/465
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3438 Rendez-vous, i.e. searching a destination where several users can meet, and the routes to this destination for these users; Ride sharing, i.e. searching a route such that at least two users can share a vehicle for at least part of the route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

Techniques are described for providing a meeting notification and automatic modification service. A system may be configured to identify an appointment in a calendar application, identify a geographic location of the appointment, and identify, before the appointment time, a geographic location of a first participant of the appointment. Based on the geographic information, the system may identify a route extending from the geographic location of the first participant to the geographic location of the appointment, and may identify a travel time associated with the route. Based on the travel time and the appointment time, the system may determine whether the first participant is estimated to arrive at the appointment on time and, based on the determination, the system may send a message to participants of the appointment or dynamically reschedule the appointment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, using at least one processor, a geographic location and a start time associated with an appointment;

estimating a time corresponding to an arrival of a participant at the geographic location associated with the appointment;

determining that the estimated arrival time occurs prior to the start time of the appointment; and

providing at least one recommendation for filling the time between the estimated arrival time and the start time of the appointment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling presentation of at least one graphical user interface comprising the at least one recommendation for filling the time between the estimated arrival time and the start time of the appointment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises at least one selectable option for filling the time between the estimated arrival time and the start time of the appointment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one selectable option comprises an option to search for points of interest within a proximity of the geographic location associated with the appointment.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one selectable option comprises an option for modifying an appointment in the calendar application.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one recommendation comprises one or more recommended points of interest.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one graphical interface further comprises a geographic location associated with a recommended point of interest.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

searching for points of interest within a vicinity of a route to the geographic location associated with the appointment; and

identifying, based on the search, at least one recommended point of interest.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one recommendation is based on one or more stored user preferences.

10. A method comprising:

identifying, using at least one processor, a first geographic location and an end time associated with a first appointment in a calendar application;

identifying a second geographic location and a start time associated with a second appointment in a calendar application;

estimating a time corresponding to travel of a participant from the first geographic location to the second geographic location;

identifying an unscheduled time period between the end time associated with the first appointment and the start time associated with the second appointment; and

providing at least one recommendation for the participant to fill the unscheduled time period.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising enabling presentation of at least one graphical user interface comprising the at least one recommendation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises at least one selectable option for filling the unscheduled time period.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one selectable option comprises an option to search for points of interest within a proximity of the first geographic location or the second geographic location.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one selectable option comprises an option for modifying an appointment in the calendar application.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one recommendation comprises one or more recommended points of interest.

16. A mobile device comprising:

a display;

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to;

identify a geographic location and a start time associated with an appointment in a calendar application;

estimate a time corresponding to an arrival of a participant at the geographic location associated with the appointment;

determine that the estimated arrival time occurs prior to the start time of the appointment; and

provide at least one recommendation for filling an unscheduled period of time prior to the start time of the appointment.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to enable presentation of at least one graphical user interface comprising the at least one recommendation.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises at least one selectable option for filling the unscheduled period of time.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the at least one selectable option comprises an option to search for points of interest within a proximity of the geographic location associated with the appointment.

20. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the at least one recommendation comprises one or more recommended points of interest.