Inviting temporary participants to a virtual meeting or other communication session for a fixed duration
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a session invitation from a first communicator for a first communication session, wherein said session invitation is for a temporary participant to join a sub-session of the first communication session for a sub-session duration specified by the first communicator, said sub-session duration being less than a duration of the first communication session;
conveying the session information within a session invitation to the temporary participant, so the temporary participant is able to accept or deny the session invitation with knowledge of the sub-session duration;
receiving an invitation response from the temporary participant that indicates the temporary participant has elected to join the first communication for the sub-session duration;
responsive to the invitation response and at a time that the sub-session is to start, joining the temporary participant to the first communication session;
providing sub-session duration information to at least the first communicator and the temporary participant so that a count-down for the sub-session duration is able to be presented upon user interfaces of the first communicator and the temporary participant during the sub-session;
determining a time at which the sub-session duration has ended; and
responsive to determining that the sub-session duration has ended, automatically removing the temporary participant from the first communication session.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A session invitation can be received from a first communicator for a first communication session. The session invitation can be for a temporary participant to join a sub-session of the first communication session for a sub-session duration specified by the first communicator. The sub-session duration can be less than a duration of the first communication session. The session information can be conveyed to the temporary participant within a session invitation so that the sub-session duration is able to be presented to the temporary participant. Thus, the temporary participant is able to accept or deny the session invitation with full knowledge of the sub-session duration.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving a session invitation from a first communicator for a first communication session, wherein said session invitation is for a temporary participant to join a sub-session of the first communication session for a sub-session duration specified by the first communicator, said sub-session duration being less than a duration of the first communication session; conveying the session information within a session invitation to the temporary participant, so the temporary participant is able to accept or deny the session invitation with knowledge of the sub-session duration; receiving an invitation response from the temporary participant that indicates the temporary participant has elected to join the first communication for the sub-session duration; responsive to the invitation response and at a time that the sub-session is to start, joining the temporary participant to the first communication session; providing sub-session duration information to at least the first communicator and the temporary participant so that a count-down for the sub-session duration is able to be presented upon user interfaces of the first communicator and the temporary participant during the sub-session; determining a time at which the sub-session duration has ended; and responsive to determining that the sub-session duration has ended, automatically removing the temporary participant from the first communication session. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method comprising:
-
presenting a user interface to a user, participating in an ongoing communication session with one or more remotely located other users, operable to enable the user to invite a temporary participant to join a sub-session of the ongoing communication session;
said user interface comprising;a first user interface element operable to enable the user to select a temporary participant; and a second user interface element operable to enable the user to set sub-session duration of the sub-session, said sub-session duration being less than the duration of the ongoing communication session; preparing a session invite for the temporary participant, said session invite comprising the sub-session duration; sending the session invite to the temporary participant; and upon starting of the sub-session, presenting a count-down of the sub-session duration to the user during the sub-session.
-
-
20. A method comprising:
-
presenting a user interface to a user through which the user is able to participate in real-time communication sessions conducted with sets of one or more remotely located people, said user interface comprising an invitation acceptance screen operable to present a sub-session duration when prompting the user to accept or deny an invitation to join a sub-session of an ongoing communication session, wherein the sub-session duration represents a duration which the user is to be part of the ongoing communication session should the user accept the invitation; joining the user to the ongoing communication session responsive to acceptance of the invitation via the invitation acceptance screen; presenting a countdown screen operable to present a user with a continually decrementing countdown time representing an amount left in the sub-session duration, where the countdown screen is presented to the user during the sub-session; and automatically disconnecting the user from the ongoing communication session when the sub-session duration expires.
-
Specification