LOCATION ENHANCED MEETINGS AND COLLABORATION

• US 20130096813A1
• Filed: 10/18/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Geffner, Steven Paul, Caldwell, Gary, Coplen, C. Joe, Pratley, Christopher Hugh, Ammerlaan, Michael, Zaske, Steve
• Granted Patent: US 9,146,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• 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 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits

Abstract

A location enhanced meeting service (“LEM Service”) may provide a geographical based map indicating meeting locations for a selected day. The user can view locations of meetings for a scheduled day, along with travel times. Conditions impacting travel time may be provided to the user along with updated estimated travel times and suggested alternative routes. The scale of the map may be based on the geographical diversity of the attendees. A user can view a location enhanced meeting map for particular meeting, and obtain directions to the meeting. The user can also request to view attendee'"'"'s locations to the meeting on the map prior to the meeting. If an attendee is expected to be late, the user may establish a voice conference with that attendee. If a user is expected to be late to a meeting, the user may provide a notification to the other attendees of the meeting.

Claims

1. A method for providing location enhanced meeting information to a user for a meeting comprising:

receiving a request, by a processor, from a user'"'"'s mobile computing device for the location enhanced meeting information;

retrieving meeting information, by the processor, comprising a meeting location, a list comprising identification of one or more meeting attendees, and a starting time

determining, by the processor, a user location based on the current location of a user'"'"'s mobile computing device initiating the request;

determining, by the processor, an attendee location of an attendee of the one or more meeting attendees, wherein the attendee is not located at the meeting location;

generating, by the processor, a meeting location map indicating the user location and the attendee location of the attendee;

determining, by the processor, an estimated arrival time of the attendee to the meeting location;

indicating, by the processor, the estimated arrival time of the attendee on the meeting location map; and

providing the user a geographical map indicating the meeting location and the attendee location in response to the request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of determining by the processor the attendee location comprises:

querying by a first server a second server for the attendee location; and

receiving from the second server the attendee location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first server receives the request for the location enhanced meeting location, and the method further comprises:

querying a third server for the estimated arrival time of the attendee by providing to the third server the attendee location and the meeting location; and

receiving the estimated arrival time of the attendee from the third server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein

the geographical map further indicates a location of another attendee.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing to the user of the mobile device a prompt to establish a communications link with the meeting attendee;

receiving in response to the prompt a request from the user to establish the communication link; and

using the meeting location information to establish the communication link between a mobile device of the meeting attendee and the mobile device of the user.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the geographical map is updated to reflect the establishment of the communication link with the meeting attendee.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein traffic conditions associated with the attendee location is indicated on the meeting map.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

determining a late arrival time of the attendee comprising the difference between the estimated arrival time of the attendee and the meeting time; and

providing the prompt to the user if the late arrival time exceeds a threshold level.

9. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

determining a time period from the current time to the meeting time;

determining the time period exceeds a threshold; and

providing the user the geographical map indicating the user location and the attendee location in response to the request if the time period exceeds the threshold.

10. A method for providing meeting information to a user comprising:

retrieving, by a processor, meeting information of a plurality of meetings of the user for a selected clay, wherein the each meeting information comprises a meeting location and a meeting time;

retrieving, by the processor, a geographical map suitable for displaying the meeting location of each respective meeting;

generating, by the processor, a meeting map comprising the geographical map with the plurality of meetings and each meeting location indicated thereon; and

providing, by the processor, the meeting map to the user in response to a user request to a calendar application for viewing the meeting information for the plurality of meetings for the selected day.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a mode of transportation from a current location to a particular meeting location based on a current location of the user, current time, and the particular meeting location;

determine traffic conditions from the current location to the particular meeting location by querying a first server if the mode of transportation from the current location and the particular meeting location is by automobile;

determining an estimated travel time based on the mode of transportation from the current location meeting to the particular meeting location based on the traffic conditions by querying a second server; and

providing an updated meeting map to the user indicating the estimated travel time.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the current location is associated with a first meeting and the particular meeting location is associated with a second meeting.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining an alternative travel route from the current location to the particular meeting location; and

providing an alternative arrival time from the current location to the particular meeting location.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving an indication from the user to notify at least one attendee of the particular meeting of an arrival status of the user; and

sending a message to the at least one attendee indicating the user is late to the particular meeting.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

retrieving, by the processor, a list of attendees comprising the at least one attendee to the meeting using the meeting information;

querying a server, by the processor, address information for the at least one attendee; and

generating the message to the at least one attendee using the address information.

16. A system for providing a location enhanced meeting information, comprising:

a memory storing meeting location information for a user; and

a processor configured to receive a request for a location enhanced meeting map for a meeting, wherein the processor is configured to

determine a time period between the current time and a starting time of the meeting,

determine the time period is below a threshold,

query a location server for a location of an attendee,

query an estimated time of arrival server for an estimated time of arrival for the attendee, and

provide the user with the location enhanced meeting map indicating a current location of the meeting and the location of the attendee.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

provide the user with a prompt for establishing a communications link with the attendee;

receive confirmation from the user to establish the communications link;

establish the communications link with the attendee; and

provide an updated location enhanced meeting map indicating the existence of the communications link between the user and the attendee.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

the location server, wherein the location server is configured to receive the query from the processor for location information for an attendee, and wherein the location server provides the location information to the processor.

19. The system of claim 18, comprising:

a communication server configured to establish the communications link between the user and the attendee upon receiving a request from the processor.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

query a traffic conditions server for traffic conditions associated with the location of the attendee and the meeting location, and

use the traffic conditions for determining the estimated time of arrival for the attendee.