Binding Nearby Device to Online Conference Session

• US 20150304121A1
• Filed: 04/16/2014
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Yuan, Wang, Qian, Feng, Bin, Hu, YiQi
• Granted Patent: US 9,866,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1093 by adding participants; by removing participants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/568 audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30

Abstract

A meeting server receives a request to join an online conference session from a first device at a first location. The first device is associated with a user account. The meeting server then determines at least one second location corresponding to at least one second device also associated with the user account. Responsive to a determination that the second location is within a predetermined distance of the first location, the meeting server transmits a command to mute the second device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request to join an online conference session from a first device at a first location, the first device associated with a user account;

determining at least one second location corresponding to at least one second device, the at least one second device associated with the user account; and

responsive to a determination that the second location is within a predetermined distance of the first location, transmitting a command to cause the second device to enter a silent mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to join the online conference session further comprises an indication of the first location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one second location comprises transmitting a location request to the at least one second device, the location request soliciting a response from the at least one second device with an indication of the second location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first location and the second location are represented by GPS coordinates.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a notification that the second device has received an incoming communication request that is outside the online conference session; and

transmitting to the first device a notification message pertaining to the incoming communication request for presentation during the online conference session.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the second device is engaging in an outside communication session;

disabling audio from the online conference from being transmitted to the first device; and

preventing any audio detected at the first device from being communicated into the online conference session.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying an icon in a window associated with the online conference session to participants of the online conference session, the icon indicating that a user associated with the user account is participating in the outside communication session.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the incoming communication request comprises one of Automatic Number Identification (ANI) associated with a telephone call, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or an email.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:

joining an online conference session with a first device using a user account;

receiving a first notification within the online conference session that a second device associated with the user account has received an incoming communication request outside of the online conference session, wherein the second device is located within a predetermined distance of the first device; and

displaying the notification on the first device as part of the online conference session.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a second notification that the second device is engaged in an outside communication;

displaying, in association with a participant list of the online conference session, a graphical element indicating that the second device is engaged in the outside communication; and

silencing the first device, such that audio from the online conference session is prevented from being transmitted into the outside communication.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a third notification that the second device has ended the outside communication

removing the graphical element in association with the display of the participant list; and

enabling an audio output of the first device such that audio from the online conference session is audible at the first device.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a second notification that the second device is engaged in an outside communication;

displaying, in association with a participant list of the online conference session, a graphical element indicating that the second device is engaged in the outside communication; and

disabling an audio input for the first device such that audio from the outside communication is prevented from being transmitted to the online conference session.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a third notification that the second device has ended the outside communication;

removing the graphical element in association with the display of the participant list; and

enabling the audio input for the first device, such that first device sends audio to the online conference session.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein joining the online conference session comprises transmitting a first location of the first device.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein displaying the first notification on the first device comprises identifying a sender of the incoming communication request.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a first device associated with a user account, a first command from a meeting server to enter a silent mode, the meeting server facilitating an online conference session among a plurality of devices other than the first device, wherein the plurality of devices includes a second device associated with the user account, and wherein the first device is within a predetermined distance of the second device;

receiving, at the first device, a request for communication outside the online conference session; and

transmitting to the meeting server a notification of the request for communication outside the online conference session.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a first user input to respond to the request for communication outside the online conference session; and

transmitting to the meeting server a first indication that the first device is engaged in the outside communication.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a second user input to end the outside communication; and

transmitting to the meeting server a second indication that the first device has ended the outside communication.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, from the meeting server, a second command to exit the silent mode and enter a normal mode; and

enabling an audio output on the first device in response to the second command.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting the notification of the request for communication outside the online conference session comprises identifying a sender of the request, and transmitting the identity of the sender of the request to the meeting server.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface unit configured to communicate over a network with a plurality of devices;

a processor configured to;

receive, via the network interface unit, a request to join an online conference session from a first device at a first location, the first device associated with a user account;

determine at least one second location corresponding to at least one second device, the at least one second device associated with the user account; and

responsive to a determination that the second location is within a predetermined distance of the first location, cause a command to be transmitted via the network interface unit, the command configured to cause the second device to enter a silent mode.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to determine the at least one second location by causing a location request to be transmitted via the network interface unit to the at least one second device, the location request soliciting a response from the at least one second device with an indication of the second location.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the network interface unit, a notification that the second device has received an incoming communication request that is outside the online conference session; and

causing the network interface unit to transmit to the first device a notification message pertaining to the incoming communication request for presentation during the online conference session.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the network interface unit, an indication that the second device is engaging in an outside communication session;

disable audio from the online conference from being transmitted to the first device; and

prevent any audio detected at the first device from being communicated into the online conference session.