Meeting notification and modification service

• US 7,869,941 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2007
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coughlin, Stephen J., Meisels, Adrienne C., Greenberg, Steven E.
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US11/966,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20080167937A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,110 Days
• Field of Search: 701/23, 701/201, 701/204, 701/207, 701/209, 701/213, 701/300, 715/213
• US Class Current: 701/204
• 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 computer-implemented method for a meeting notification and automatic modification service, the method comprising:

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

identifying a geographic location of a first participant of the appointment;

computing a travel time associated with a route extending from the geographic location of the first participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

estimating, based on the computed travel time, a time corresponding to an arrival of the first participant at the geographic location of the appointment;

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

selecting an updated start time for the appointment, the updated start time occurring at or subsequent to the estimated arrival time; and

transmitting the updated start time to at least one of the first participant or a second participant of the appointment.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein computing the travel time associated with the route comprises identifying the travel time based on at least one of a current road condition or a traffic flow.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein computing the travel time associated with the route comprises identifying the travel time based on a historic traffic flow.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein computing the travel time associated with the route comprises:

identifying a modality of travel of the first participant; and

based on the modality of travel, identifying the travel time associated with the route.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein further comprising:

postponing the start time to the updated start time to enable the first participant to arrive at the geographic location of the appointment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the updated start time comprises:

transmitting, to the first participant, an alert message indicating that the first participant will be late to the appointment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the updated start time further comprises:

transmitting, to the second participant, the alert message indicating that the first participant will be late to the appointment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein transmitting the updated start time further comprises:

transmitting, to the second participant, the geographic location of the first participant and the travel time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the updated start time comprises:

accessing the calendar application to identify available times for at least the first and second participants;

determining, based on the available times, a mutually convenient time for the first and second participants, the mutually convenient time occurring at or subsequent to the arrival time of the first participant; and

selecting the mutually convenient time as the updated start time.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the mutually convenient time for the first and second participants comprises:

identifying, for at least one of first participant or the second participant, an additional time for travelling between the geographic location of the appointment and a geographical location of an additional appointment;

determining the mutually convenient time based on at least the additional travel time.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the mutually convenient time comprises:

selecting the mutually convenient time from a plurality of mutually convenient times based on a temporal proximity of the geographic location of the appointment to at least one of a geographic location of an additional appointment of the first participant, or a geographic location of an additional appointment of the second participant.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the alert message to the first participant comprises providing one or more suggestions to the first participant for responding to the alert message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more suggestions comprise a suggestion to change a modality of travel of the first participant.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the one or more suggestions comprise a suggestion to transmit a message to the second participant informing the second participant of the arrival time.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein providing the one or more suggestions to the first participant comprises:

accessing telephone contact information of the second participant, the telephone contact information comprising at least a telephone number of the second participant; and

providing a suggestion to the first participant to call the second participant, the suggestion comprising the telephone number of the second participant.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the geographic location of the first participant comprises identifying a current geographic location of the first participant.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein identifying the geographic location of the first participant further comprises identifying the geographic location of the first participant based on a location-based technology utilized by a client device of the first participant.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the client device utilizes a global positioning system.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the estimated arrival time occurs at or prior to the start time;

transmitting, to the first participant, an alert at a specified time that precedes the start time by at least the travel time.

20. A method for dynamically updating the appointment information within a calendar application, the method comprising:

identifying a start time and a duration of a first appointment within a calendar application;

identifying a delay in the start time of the first appointment, the delay comprising a specific period of time;

computing a completion time for the first appointment, the completion time being based on the duration of the first appointment and the identified delay;

identifying a second appointment within the calendar application, the second appointment being associated with a corresponding start time;

detecting a conflict between the completion time of the first appointment and the start time of the second appointment;

computing an updated start time for the second appointment, the updated start time occurring subsequent to the completion time of the first appointment;

rescheduling the second appointment within the calendar application in response to the detected conflict, the rescheduled second appointment being associated with the updated start time; and

transmitting the updated start time to one or more participants of the second appointment.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

confirming a need to reschedule the second appointment with at least one participant of the first appointment, wherein computing the updated start time comprises;

computing the updated start time for the second appointment in response to the confirmation.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein rescheduling the second appointment within the calendar application comprises:

identifying a conflict between the updated start time of second appointment and a start time of a third appointment; and

transmitting a notification of the identified conflict to participants of the second appointment.

23. A computer-implemented method for monitoring travel conditions and dynamically processing changes to travel conditions associated with one or more participants traveling to an appointment, the method comprising:

identifying an amount of time remaining until an appointment time at which an appointment is due to start;

identifying a travel time corresponding to a route of travel associated with one or more participants traveling to the appointment;

based on the identified amount of time remaining until the appointment time and the identified travel time corresponding to the route, determining that the one or more participants traveling to the appointment are estimated to arrive at the appointment on time;

monitoring travel conditions for the route of travel associated with the one or more participants traveling to the appointment;

detecting a change in travel conditions for the route of travel associated with the one or more participants traveling to the appointment;

in response to detecting the change in travel conditions;

determining an updated amount of time remaining until the appointment time at which the appointment is due to start;

determining a current location of the one or more participants; and

determining, based on the current location of the one or more participants, an updated travel time corresponding to the route of travel associated with the one or more participants traveling to the appointment;

based on the updated amount of time remaining until the appointment time and the updated travel time corresponding to the route of travel, determining that the one or more participants traveling to the appointment are estimated to arrive at the appointment late based on the changed travel conditions; and

in response to determining that the one or more participants traveling to the appointment are estimated to arrive at the appointment late based on the changed travel conditions, sending a communication.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

in response to determining that the one or more participants traveling to the appointment are estimated to arrive at the appointment late based on the changed travel conditions;

identifying one or more alternative routes for the one or more participants traveling to the appointment;

determining one or more alternative travel times associated with each of the identified one or more alternative routes of travel;

determining whether at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time,

wherein sending the communication includes;

conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is less than the updated travel time;

selecting at least one of the one or more alternative routes of travel for which the one or more alternative travel times is lowest, and

alerting the one or more participants about the selected at least one of the one or more alternative routes of travel; and

conditioned on determining that at least one of the one or more alternative travel times is not less than the updated travel time, alerting the one or more participants about current travel conditions and informing the one or more participants that the route of travel remains most efficient.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein sending the communication includes sending an alert message to at least one of the participants of the appointment, the alert message indicating that the one or more participants traveling to the appointment are estimated to arrive at the appointment late based on the changed travel conditions.

26. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

dynamically rescheduling the appointment based on the updated travel time;

identifying one or more subsequent appointments in a calendar of at least one of the participants of the appointment; and

dynamically rescheduling the one or more subsequent appointments based on the dynamically rescheduled appointment, wherein

sending the communication includes notifying the participants of the appointment that the appointment has been dynamically rescheduled.

27. A computer-implemented method for assisting a participant with a calendar appointment when the participant diverges from a suggested route for traveling to the calendar appointment, the method comprising:

determining a current geographic location of a participant traveling to an appointment scheduled in a calendar application used by the participant;

accessing information indicative of the suggested route of travel;

comparing the geographic location of the participant to one or more geographic locations associated with the route of travel suggested for the participant;

based on comparison results, determining whether the current geographic location of the participant traveling to the appointment differs more than a threshold from the one or more geographic locations associated with the route of travel suggested for the participant;

conditioned on determining that the current geographic location of the participant traveling to the appointment differs more than the threshold from the one or more geographic locations associated with the route of travel suggested for the participant;

determining an updated route of travel to the appointment based on the current geographic location of the participant;

determining a travel time associated with the updated route of travel to the appointment;

based on the travel time associated with the updated route of travel, determining whether the participant traveling along the updated route is estimated to arrive at the appointment on time;

conditioned on determining that the participant traveling along the updated route is estimated to arrive at the appointment on time, providing the participant with information related to the updated route of travel;

conditioned on determining that the participant traveling along the updated route is not estimated to arrive at the appointment on time;

providing the participant with information related to the updated route of travel; and

sending a communication; and

conditioned on determining that the current geographic location of the participant traveling to the appointment does not differ more than the threshold from the one or more geographic locations associated with the route of travel suggested for the participant;

determine whether the current geographic location of the participant is on the route; and

conditioned on determining that the current geographic location of the participant is not on the route, providing information to the participant related to how to return to the route.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein sending the communication includes sending an alert message to at least one of the participants of the appointment, the alert message indicating that the participant traveling to the appointment is not estimated to arrive at the appointment on time.

29. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

conditioned on determining that the participant traveling along the updated route is not estimated to arrive at the appointment on time;

dynamically rescheduling the appointment based on the travel time associated with the updated route of travel to the appointment;

identifying one or more subsequent appointments in a calendar of at least one of the participants of the appointment; and

dynamically rescheduling the one or more subsequent appointments based on the dynamically rescheduled appointment, wherein

sending the communication includes notifying the participants of the appointment that the appointment has been dynamically rescheduled.

30. A computer-implemented method for accounting for time associated with modality-specific incidentals to travel in dynamically assisting a participant in handling an appointment, the method comprising:

identifying an appointment in a calendar associated with a participant of the appointment;

identifying an appointment time at which the appointment is due to start and a current time;

identifying an amount of time remaining between the appointment time at which the appointment is due to start and the current time;

identifying a geographic location of the appointment;

identifying a current geographic location of the participant of the appointment;

identifying a route extending from the current geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel;

determining, based on the determined modality of travel, at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a total travel time for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time;

determining whether the total travel time exceeds the amount of time remaining until the appointment time; and

conditioned on determining that the total travel time exceeds the amount of time remaining until the appointment time, dynamically assisting the participant in handling the appointment.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment includes determining an automobile as the modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel includes using a mapping device to compute an automobile travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the automobile;

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel includes determining a walking travel time associated with walking from a building to the automobile prior or subsequent to traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the automobile; and

determining a total travel time for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time includes adding the walking travel time to the automobile travel time.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment includes determining an airplane as the modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel includes determining an air travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the airplane;

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel includes determining a security travel time associated with going through security prior to boarding the airplane, and

determining a total travel time for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment based on the determined modality-based travel time and the determined at least one incidental travel time includes adding the security travel time to the air travel time.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment includes:

accessing content associated with the appointment;

accessing information associated with a distance extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

analyzing the content associated with the appointment and the information associated with the distance extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment; and

based on the analysis, automatically determining the modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment.

34. The method of claim 30 wherein determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment includes enabling the participant to select the modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein:

determining a modality of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment includes determining multiple, different modalities of travel for traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined modality of travel includes determining a modality-based travel time associated with traveling the route extending from the geographic location of the participant to the geographic location of the appointment using the determined multiple, different modalities of travel; and

determining at least one incidental travel time associated with traveling the route between the first geographic location and the second geographic location using the determined modality of travel includes determining at least one incidental travel time associated with transitioning from a first modality of travel to a second modality of travel.

36. The method of claim 30 wherein dynamically assisting the participant in handling the appointment includes dynamically rescheduling the appointment based on the total travel time.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein dynamically assisting the participant in handling the appointment includes sending an alert message to at least one of the participants of the appointment, the alert message indicating that the participant is estimated to arrive at the appointment late.

38. A computer-implemented method comprising:

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

identifying a geographic location of a first participant of the appointment;

identifying a travel time associated with a route extending from the geographic location of the first participant to the geographic location of the appointment;

determining that the travel time exceeds a time difference between the start time of the appointment and a current time;

computing a threshold time corresponding to an arrival of the first participant at the geographic location of the appointment, the threshold time being based on at least a sum of the current time and the travel time;

rescheduling the start time of the appointment to enable the first participant to arrive at the geographic location of the appointment, the rescheduled start time being at or subsequent to the threshold time; and

transmitting updated appointment information to one or more of the first participant or a second participant of the appointment, the updated appointment information comprising the rescheduled start time.