Method and computer program product for establishing real-time communications between networked computers

• US 8,671,145 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2005
• Issued: 03/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: PalTalk Holdings Incorporated (Paltalk, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PalTalk Holdings Incorporated (Paltalk, Inc.)
• Inventors: Roskowski, Steven G., Riedel, Andrew D., Sahai, Shankar
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thu
• Assistant Examiner(s): WIDHALM, ANGELA M
• Application Number:
  US11/206,301
• Publication Number:
  US 20060010201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,128 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 709/204, 709/206, 709/217, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product is provided for establishing real-time communications between computer users connected by a communications network. An invitation is created by a first computer. An invitation is data that proposes a communication session. An invitation can indicate the status or availability of the sending user or of some other resource. Creation of the invitation is followed by the transfer of the invitation from the first computer to at least one second computer. The invitation can be transferred electronically through the network, or physically, by the transfer of a magnetic medium bearing the invitation. The invitation contains parameters to configure an invitation communicator application for communications between the first and second computers. The second computer accepts the invitation and invokes an invitation communicator application to allow communication.

Claims

1. A method for communicating presence information about a first user at a first computer to a second user at a second computer, the method comprising:

(a) determining, by the first computer, presence information of the first user based on interaction by the first user with the first computer, wherein the first user is associated with the first computer, and wherein said presence information represents information regarding the availability of said first user for participating in a real-time communication session;

(b) sending, by the first computer via e-mail, an invitation containing the presence information to the second computer, wherein said invitation proposes the real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer, wherein said invitation contains data capable of invoking an invitation communicator application for facilitating said real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer and data for displaying an interface to said invitation communicator application;

(c) determining, by the second computer, whether said invitation containing data is able to be displayed within the e-mail on said second computer, wherein said second computer receives a link that when activated causes said second computer to access and download a control module for displaying said invitation within the e-mail on said second computer when said second computer determines that said invitation containing data is unable to be displayed within the e-mail on said second computer;

(d) invoking an invitation communicator application in said second computer and displaying said presence information of the first user and the interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer when said invitation is able to be displayed on said second computer or wherein said invitation contains data for downloading said invitation communicator application from an online source, wherein said invitation provides parameters to configure said invitation communicator application, wherein the invitation communicator application establishes the real-time communication session between the first computer and the second computer, and wherein the second user of said second computer participates in said real-time communication session through interaction with said interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer;

(e) determining, by the second computer, second presence information of a second user based on interaction by the second user with the second computer, wherein the second user is associated with the second computer;

(f) sending by the second computer via said invitation communicator application, said second presence information associated with the second user to said first computer;

(g) periodically repeating step (a) and continuously updating the presence information of the first user within said e-mail to reflect the most up-to-date presence information of the first user; and

(h) periodically repeating steps (e) and (f) and continuously updating the presence information of the second user within said invitation communicator application to reflect the most up-to-date presence information of the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said sending step comprises:

sending to the second computer a cookie containing the presence information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said sending step comprises:

sending to the second computer a GIF file containing the presence information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said sending step comprises:

executing a script on the second computer to cause the second computer to retrieve the presence information from the first computer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said script being selected from the group consisting of a hyper text markup language (HTML) script, a dynamic hyper text markup language (DHTML) script, a common gateway interface (CGI) script, a server side include (SSI) script, a Java script and an Active X control.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the invitation contains parameters to configure the invitation communicator application.

6. A system for communicating presence information, the system comprising:

a first computer program executing on a first computer, said first computer program determining presence information associated with a first user based on interaction by the first user with the first computer, wherein said first user is associated with said first computer, and wherein said presence information represents information regarding the availability of said first user for participating in a real-time communication session;

means for transferring an invitation containing the presence information to a second computer, wherein said invitation is sent via e-mail, wherein said invitation proposes said real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer, and further wherein said invitation contains data capable of facilitating real-time communication between said first computer and said second computer and data for displaying an interface to said invitation communicator application;

means for determining whether said invitation containing data is able to be displayed within the e-mail on said second computer, wherein said second computer receives a link that when activated causes said second computer to access and download a control module for displaying said invitation within the e-mail on said second computer when said second computer determines that said invitation containing data is unable to be displayed within the e-mail on said second computer;

means for establishing said real-time communication session between said first and second computers, wherein said means includes invoking an invitation communicator application in said second computer when said invitation is able to be displayed on said second computer or wherein said invitation contains data for downloading said invitation communicator application from an online source, and wherein said invitation provides parameters to configure said invitation communicator application,

means for displaying said presence information of the first user and the interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer, wherein a second user of said second computer participates in said real-time communication session through interaction with said interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer;

means for determining by said second computer, second presence information associated with the second user based on interaction by said second user with the second computer, wherein said second user is associated with the second computer, and wherein the second computer sends, via the invitation communicator application, the second presence information to the first computer,

wherein said presence information of said first user is continuously updated within said e-mail to reflect the most up-to-date presence information of said first user, and

wherein said presence information of said second user is continuously updated within the invitation communicator application to reflect the most up-to-date presence information of said second user.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said first computer program comprises an invitation development module;

and said second computer program comprises an invitation displayer module.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said first computer program places the presence information in an HTML page available via the Internet;

and said second computer program comprises a Web browser.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein said second computer program comprises:

a script executing on the second computer to cause the second computer to retrieve the presence information from the first computer, said script being selected from the group consisting of a hyper text markup language (HTML) script, a dynamic hyper text markup language (DHTML) script, a common gateway interface (CGI) script, a server side include (SSI) script, a Java script and an Active X control.

10. A computer program product embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable medium executable by a computer for communicating presence information, comprising:

means for execution on a first computer to determine the presence information associated with a first user based on interaction by the first user with the first computer, wherein the first user is associated with the first computer, and wherein the presence information represents information regarding the availability of the first user for participating in a real-time communication session;

means for making an invitation containing the presence information available to a second computer, wherein said invitation proposes said real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer;

means in said invitation for establishing said real-time communication session between said first and second computers, wherein said means includes invoking an invitation communicator application in said second computer, wherein said invitation contains data capable of invoking said invitation communicator application for facilitating said real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer and data for displaying an interface to said invitation communicator application when said invitation is able to be displayed on said second computer or wherein said invitation contains data for downloading said invitation communicator application from an online source, and further wherein said invitation provides parameters to configure said invitation communicator application;

means for determining whether said invitation containing the presence information is able to be displayed within the e-mail on the second computer, wherein the second computer receives a link that when activated causes said second computer to access and download a control module for displaying said invitation within the e-mail when the second computer determines that said invitation is unable to be displayed within the e-mail on the second computer;

means for execution on the second computer for receiving the invitation via e-mail and for displaying the presence information relating to the first user to a user of the second computer and displaying the interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer, wherein a second user of said second computer participates in said real-time communication session through interaction with said interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer; and

means for determining by said second computer presence information associated with a second user of the second computer,

wherein said the presence information relating to the second user is continuously updated and sent within said invitation communicator application to reflect the most up-to-date presence information, and

wherein said presence information relating to the first user is continuously updated within said e-mail to reflect the most up-to-date presence information.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein said second computer program comprises:

a script executing on the second computer to cause the second computer to retrieve the presence information from the first computer, said script being selected from the group consisting of a hyper text markup language (HTML) script, a dynamic hyper text markup language (DHTML) script, a common gateway interface (CGI) script, a server side include (SSI) script, a Java script and an Active X control.

12. A computer-based method for providing to a second user at a second computer presence information about a first user at a first computer, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining, by the first computer, the presence information about the first user, wherein the first user is associated with the first computer, and wherein the presence information represents information regarding the availability of the first user for participating in a real-time communication session;

(b) transmitting, by the first computer, an invitation containing the presence information to the second computer via e-mail, wherein said invitation proposes the real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer, wherein said invitation contains data capable of invoking an invitation communicator application for facilitating the real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer and data for displaying an interface to said invitation communicator application;

(c) determining, by the second computer, whether the invitation containing the presence information is able to be displayed within the e-mail on the second computer;

(d) when the second computer determines that the invitation containing the presence information is unable to be displayed within the e-mail on the second computer, receiving a link that when activated causes said second computer to access and download a control module for displaying said invitation within the e-mail;

(e) displaying said presence information of the first user and the interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer, wherein the second user of said second computer participates in said real-time communication session through interaction with said interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer; and

(f) periodically repeating steps (a) and (b) to continuously update the presence information.

13. A method for communicating presence information about a first user at a first computer to a second user at a second computer, the method comprising:

(a) determining, by the first computer, presence information of the first user based on interaction by the first user with the first computer, wherein the first user is associated with the first computer, and wherein said presence information represents information regarding the availability of said first user for participating in a real-time communication session;

(b) sending, by the first computer via e-mail, an invitation containing the presence information to the second computer, wherein said invitation proposes the real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer, wherein said invitation contains either data capable of invoking an invitation communicator application for facilitating said real-time communication session between said first computer and said second computer or data for downloading said invitation communication application from an online source, wherein said invitation further contains data for displaying an interface to said invitation communicator application;

(c) determining, by the second computer, whether said invitation containing data is able to be displayed on said second computer within the e-mail on the second computer;

(d) if the information is able to be displayed on the second computer within the e-mail, invoking an invitation communication application;

(e) if the information is not able to be displayed on the second computer within the e-mail on the second computer, obtaining a link that when activated causes said second computer to access and download a control module for displaying said invitation within the e-mail;

(f) displaying said presence information of the first user and the interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer, wherein the second user of said second computer participates in said real-time communication session through interaction with said interface to said invitation communicator application within said e-mail on said second computer

(g) determining, by the second computer, second presence information of a second user based on interaction by the second user with the second computer, wherein the second user is associated with the second computer;

(h) sending by the second computer via said invitation communicator application, said second presence information associated with the second user to said first computer;

(i)periodically repeating step (a) and continuously updating the presence information of the first user within said e-mail to reflect the most up-to-date presence information; and

(j) periodically repeating steps (g) and (h) and continuously updating the presence information of the second user within said invitation communicator application to reflect the most up-to-date presence information,

wherein the invitation communicator application establishes the real-time communication session between the first computer and the second computer.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the invitation contains parameters to configure the invitation communication application.