Meeting notification and merging agents
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- (a) receiving a request, at a server, from a requestor to participate in a meeting with one or more of a specified plurality of participants about a selected matter, the requestor being a person;
(b) determining, based on a comparison to one or more other scheduled meetings, that a meeting is currently scheduled for the one or more of the specified plurality of participants and that a currently scheduled meeting is for the selected matter based on one or more of a common subject, agenda item, or attachment, wherein the comparison is based on a structured query of a subscriber database using, in one or more search fields, a subset of meeting information received in the request, the subset of meeting information being defined in a set of rules that define what degree of similarity is needed between the selected matter and the one or more other scheduled meetings; and
(c) before performing a meeting merger step, performing, by the server, one or more of the following steps;
(c1) notifying the requestor of at least one of the existence and details of the currently scheduled meeting, wherein notification of the requestor of the at least one of the existence and details depends on one or more of (i) an authority level of the requestor, wherein an authentication procedure is executed in which the requestor is asked to provide a password before the requestor is notified of the at least one of the existence and details of the currently scheduled meeting, and (ii) a stipulated level of restriction by a meeting organizer; and
(c2) forwarding a meeting merger invitation to the requestor to merge the requested meeting with the currently scheduled meeting, wherein the invitation is a graphical user interface presented to the requestor which includes a participant field, a scheduled at field, a location field, subject matter of matching meeting information, other information regarding the matching meeting information and user selectable icons for approving or rejecting the meeting merger invitation;
(d) receiving, from the requestor and the one or more of the plurality of participants, indications approving a meeting merger between the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting; and
(e) merging, by the server, based on the approving indications, the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting resulting in a merged meeting.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed generally to an information manager that identifies currently scheduled meetings satisfying selected search parameters, discloses, when permitted, details of the identified meetings to requestors, and merges requested and existing meetings when appropriate.
115 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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(a) receiving a request, at a server, from a requestor to participate in a meeting with one or more of a specified plurality of participants about a selected matter, the requestor being a person; (b) determining, based on a comparison to one or more other scheduled meetings, that a meeting is currently scheduled for the one or more of the specified plurality of participants and that a currently scheduled meeting is for the selected matter based on one or more of a common subject, agenda item, or attachment, wherein the comparison is based on a structured query of a subscriber database using, in one or more search fields, a subset of meeting information received in the request, the subset of meeting information being defined in a set of rules that define what degree of similarity is needed between the selected matter and the one or more other scheduled meetings; and (c) before performing a meeting merger step, performing, by the server, one or more of the following steps; (c1) notifying the requestor of at least one of the existence and details of the currently scheduled meeting, wherein notification of the requestor of the at least one of the existence and details depends on one or more of (i) an authority level of the requestor, wherein an authentication procedure is executed in which the requestor is asked to provide a password before the requestor is notified of the at least one of the existence and details of the currently scheduled meeting, and (ii) a stipulated level of restriction by a meeting organizer; and (c2) forwarding a meeting merger invitation to the requestor to merge the requested meeting with the currently scheduled meeting, wherein the invitation is a graphical user interface presented to the requestor which includes a participant field, a scheduled at field, a location field, subject matter of matching meeting information, other information regarding the matching meeting information and user selectable icons for approving or rejecting the meeting merger invitation; (d) receiving, from the requestor and the one or more of the plurality of participants, indications approving a meeting merger between the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting; and (e) merging, by the server, based on the approving indications, the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting resulting in a merged meeting. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An information manager, comprising:
a server, wherein the server includes; (a) a calendar module operable to maintain scheduling information for meetings involving at least one subscriber; (b) a messaging module operable to send and receive electronic messages; and (c) a meeting notification agent operable to; (c1) receive a request from a requestor, the requestor being a person, to identify a currently scheduled meeting matching a set of selected parameters; (c2) determine, based on a comparison to one or more other scheduled meetings, that a meeting matching the set of selected parameters exists wherein the matching matches one or more participants and one or more of a common subject, agenda item or attachment, wherein the matching is based on a structured query of a subscriber database using, in one or more search fields, a subset of meeting information received in the request, the subset of meeting information being defined in a set of rules that define what degree of similarity is needed between the set of selected parameters and the one or more other scheduled meetings; (c3) determine that selected information regarding the matching meeting may be disclosed to the requestor, wherein the determination (c3) is based on one or more of (i) an authority level of the requestor, wherein an authentication procedure is executed in which the requestor is asked to provide a password before the meeting details will be disclosed to the requestor, and (ii) a stipulated level of restriction by a meeting organizer; and (c4) before the merger agent performs a step of merging meetings, notifying the requestor of the selected information; (d) a merger agent that cooperates with the processor, the merger agent receives, from the requestor and one or more of a plurality of participants, indications approving a meeting merger between a requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting and the processor merges, based on the approving indications, the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting resulting in a merged meeting. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An information manager, comprising:
a server, wherein the server includes; (a) a calendar module, associated with a server, operable to maintain scheduling information for meetings involving at least one subscriber; (b) a messaging module operable to send and receive electronic messages; and (c) a meeting merge agent running on the server that is operable to; (c1) receive a request from a requestor, the requestor being a person, to participate in a meeting about a selected matter; (c2) determine, based on a comparison to one or more other scheduled meetings, that a currently scheduled meeting is sufficiently similar to the meeting identified in the request based on matching one or more participants and the selected matter based on one or more of a common subject, agenda item, or attachment, wherein the comparison is based on a structured query of a subscriber database using, in one or more search fields, a subset of meeting information received in the request, the subset of information being defined in a set of rules that define what degree of similarity is sufficient to match the selected matter and the one or more other scheduled meetings; and (c3) before merging meetings, providing a meeting merge request to at least one of the requestor and a participant of the currently scheduled meeting seeking permission to merge the identified meeting and the currently scheduled meeting, wherein the meeting merge request is a graphical user interface which includes a participant field, a scheduled at field, a location field, subject matter of the matching meeting information, other information regarding the matching meeting information and user selectable icons for approving or rejecting the meeting merge request; (c4) receive, from the requestor and one or more participants, indications approving a meeting merger between the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting; and (c5) merge, by the meeting merge agent, based on the approving indications, the requested meeting and the currently scheduled meeting resulting in a merged meeting. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
Specification