System and method for providing environmental controls for a meeting session in a network environment

• US 8,694,165 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2010
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Smith, Laura L., Thorsen, Tyrone T., Tatum, Todd C., Gatzke, Alan D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): WHITTINGTON, ANTHONY T
• Application Number:
  US12/826,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20110320044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,379 Days
• Field of Search: 700/276, 370/352, 709/206
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25011 Domotique, I-O bus, home automation, building automation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

An example method is provided and includes establishing a communication pathway to a building element configured to control at least one environmental setting within a room. The method also includes communicating an ability to control the environmental setting within the room to an endpoint configured to participate in a meeting session. The method further includes receiving a command from the endpoint to adjust the environmental setting during the meeting session. The command can be communicated to the building element. In more specific examples, the method can include registering with one or more application program interfaces (APIs) associated with the building element, and communicating a credential to the building element in order to provide an authentication for controlling the environmental setting. In yet other embodiments, the command to adjust the environmental setting is received via a menu of a user interface provided by a video conferencing platform.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a communication pathway to a building element configured to control at least one environmental setting within a room;

establishing a video conference communication pathway to an endpoint configured to participate in a video conference meeting session;

communicating an ability to control the environmental setting within the room to the endpoint configured to participate in the video conference meeting session via the video conference communication pathway, wherein the ability to control the environmental setting extends to multiple rooms, and wherein the endpoint is designated as a meeting host for exclusively controlling the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session;

receiving, over the video conference communication pathway via a menu of a user interface provided by a video conferencing platform, a command from the endpoint to adjust the environmental setting during the video conference meeting session;

communicating the command to the building element; and

designating, by the meeting host, an other participant in the video conference meeting session to be able to control the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session, wherein the meeting host retains override control over any environmental setting change made by the other participant.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering with one or more application program interfaces (APIs) associated with the building element; and

communicating a credential to the building element in order to provide an authentication for controlling the environmental setting.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the command to adjust the environmental setting is designated using a dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) key.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental setting corresponds to an aromatic control.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the menu of the user interface provided by the video conferencing platform is included in a list of remote video conference participants, and

receiving the command comprises receiving the command by at least one of the remote video conference participants.

5. One or more non-transitory computer readable media that has logic encoded therewithin, the logic including code for execution, and when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

establishing a communication pathway to a building element configured to control at least one environmental setting within a room;

establishing a video conference communication pathway to an endpoint configured to participate in a video conference meeting session;

communicating an ability to control the environmental setting within the room to the endpoint configured to participate in the video conference meeting session via the video conference communication pathway, wherein the ability to control the environmental setting extends to multiple rooms, and wherein the endpoint is designated as a meeting host for exclusively controlling the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session;

receiving, over the video conference communication pathway via a menu of a user interface provided by a video conferencing platform, a command from the endpoint to adjust the environmental setting during the video conference meeting session;

communicating the command to the building element; and

designating an other participant in the video conference meeting session to be able to control the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session, wherein the meeting host retains override control over any environmental setting change made by the other participant.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, the operations further comprising:

registering with one or more application program interfaces (APIs) associated with the building element; and

communicating a credential to the building element in order to provide an authentication for controlling the environmental setting.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the command to adjust the environmental setting is designated using a dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) key.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the command to adjust the environmental setting is part of a set of default environmental settings that include a lighting control and a temperature control.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein:

the menu of the user interface provided by the video conferencing platform is included in a list of remote video conference participants, and

the logic including code for execution further causes the processor to receive the command sent to at least one of the remote video conference participants.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element configured to store electronic code,

a processor configured to execute instructions associated with the electronic code, and

a meeting control module configured to interface with the processor and further configured to;

establish a communication pathway to a building element configured to control at least one environmental setting within a room;

establish a video conference communication pathway to an endpoint configured to participate in a video conference meeting session;

communicate an ability to control the environmental setting within the room to the endpoint configured to participate in the video conference meeting session, wherein the ability to control the environmental setting extends to multiple rooms, and wherein the endpoint is designated as a meeting host for exclusively controlling the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session;

receive, over the video conference communication pathway via a menu of a user interface provided by a video conferencing platform, a command from the endpoint to adjust the environmental setting during the video conference meeting session; and

communicate the command to the building element; and

designate an other participant in the video conference meeting session to be able to control the environmental setting for the video conference meeting session, wherein the meeting host retains override control over any environmental setting change made by the other participant.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the meeting control module is further configured to:

register with one or more application program interfaces (APIs) associated with the building element; and

communicate a credential to the building element in order to provide an authentication for controlling the environmental setting.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the command to adjust the environmental setting is designated using a dual-tone frequency signaling (DTMF) key.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the menu of the user interface provided by the video conferencing platform is included in a list of remote video conference participants, and

the control module is further configured to receive the command sent to at least one of the remote video conference participants.