Method and system for providing an audio/video conference

• US 8,958,536 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2012
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cinchcast Holdco Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cinchcast, Inc.
• Inventors: Charish, Avrohom Y., Levy, Alan, Yampolskiy, Aleksandr
• Primary Examiner(s): ADDY, THJUAN KNOWLIN
• Application Number:
  US13/647,261
• Publication Number:
  US 20130027508A1
• Time in Patent Office: 862 Days
• Field of Search: 379/202.01, 379/230.01, 379/204.01, 379/205.01, 709/204, 370/260, 370/352, 370/261, 370/262, 455/556
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• 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 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5063 Centrally initiated conference, i.e. Conference server dials participants computer conference organisation arrangements H04L12/1818
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/123 where the packet-switched network is an Internet Protocol Multimedia System-type network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A method and system for providing an audio/video conference includes receiving audio from a moderator via a circuit-switched telephone network, transmitting a representation of the audio to a first listener group via the circuit-switched telephone network, and transmitting a representation of the audio to a second listener group via a packet-switched network. The audio/video conference may be transmitted to the first listener group and the second listener group in real-time or near real-time (e.g., within a few seconds). The method and system may be used with a circuit-switched telephone network such as, for example, a public switched telephone network. Further, the method and system may be used with a packet-switched network such as, for example, the Internet. The method and system further provide synchronization of video data, including slide data, and audio data related to the audio/video conference.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating an audio/video conference comprising:

providing, by an audio server system, a host dashboard, the host dashboard configured to enable a moderator to invite one or more guests to participate in the conference call based on information provided by the audio server system, the audio server system enabling the moderator to engage in bi-directional communication with the invited one or more guests;

initiating, by the audio server system, the conference call based on a moderator request received via the host dashboard; and

streaming, by the audio server system, audio associated with the conference call to one or more of the moderator, the one or more guests, and the one or more listeners, the one or more listeners connecting with the conference call using one or more unidirectional network interfaces offered in conjunction with the audio server system, the one or more listeners being provided a unidirectional communication capability associated with the conference call.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the moderator with a telephone number that corresponds to a moderator position within the audio/video conference.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining the conference upon disconnection of the moderator from the conference, and reconnecting the moderator to the audio/video conference.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing each of the one or more guests with a telephone number that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing each of the one or more listeners with a URL that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein streaming the conference call to the one or more listeners via the Internet includes encoding and streaming a representation of the audio.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information to the moderator related to the audio/video conference via the Internet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information includes the caller identification of each of the one or more guests.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving inputs indicative of transition indications from the moderator;

embedding, in response to the inputs, transition indications in the audio associated with the conference call; and

transitioning slides upon receiving an embedded transition indication.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the embedding the transition indications comprises embedding the transition indications in meta data tags associated with segments of the audio.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the meta data tags are MP3 ID3 tags.

12. A server comprising:

a network adapter through which to communicate with a plurality of client devices via a network;

a memory device coupled to the network adapter and configured to store code corresponding to a series of operations for providing the online communication platform to one or more of the client devices, the series of operations including,

providing, by an audio server system, a host dashboard configured to enable a moderator to invite one or more guests to participate in the conference call based on information provided by the audio server system,

the audio server system enabling the moderator to engage in substantially real-time, bi-directional communication with the invited one or more guests;

initiating, by the audio server system, the conference call based on a moderator request received via the host dashboard; and

streaming, by the audio server system, audio associated with the conference call to one or more of the moderator, the one or more guests, and one or more listeners, the one or more listeners connecting with the conference call using one or more unidirectional network interfaces offered in conjunction with the audio server system, the one or more listeners being provided a unidirectional communication capability associated with the conference call.

13. The server of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises providing the moderator with a telephone number that corresponds to a moderator position within the audio/video conference.

14. The server of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises maintaining the conference upon disconnection of the moderator from the conference, and reconnecting the moderator to the audio/video conference.

15. The server of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises providing each of the one or more guests with a telephone number that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

16. The server of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises providing each of the one or more listeners with a URL that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

17. The server of claim 12, wherein streaming the conference call to the one or more listeners via the Internet includes encoding and streaming a representation of the audio.

18. The server of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises:

embedding transition indications in the audio associated with the conference call; and

streaming slides of video data, a slide of the video data being displayed at a time based on an embedded transition indication.

19. The server of claim 18, wherein the transition indications are embedded in meta data tags associated with the segments of the audio.

20. The server of claim 19, wherein the meta data tags are MP3 ID3 tags.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for providing an online communication platform, the instructions causing one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:

providing, by an audio server system, a host dashboard configured to enable a moderator to invite one or more guests to participate in the conference call based on information provided by the audio server system, the audio server system enabling the moderator to engage in substantially real-time, bi-directional communication with the invited one or more guests;

initiating, by the audio server system, the conference call based on a moderator request received via the host dashboard; and

streaming, by the audio server system, audio associated with the conference call to one or more of the moderator, the one or more guests, and one or more listeners, the one or more listeners connecting with the conference call using one or more unidirectional network interfaces offered in conjunction with the audio server system, the one or more listeners being provided a unidirectional communication capability associated with the conference call.

22. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise:

providing the moderator with a telephone number that corresponds to a moderator position within the audio/video conference.

23. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise:

maintaining the conference upon disconnection of the moderator from the conference, and reconnecting the moderator to the audio/video conference.

24. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise:

comprising providing each of the one or more guests with a telephone number that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

25. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise:

providing each of the one or more listeners with a URL that corresponds to a listener position within the audio/video conference.

26. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein streaming the conference call to the one or more listeners via the Internet includes encoding and streaming a representation of the audio.

27. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise:

embedding transition indications in the audio associated with the conference call; and

streaming slides of video data, a slide of the video data being displayed at a time based on an embedded transition indication.

28. The storage medium of claim 27, wherein the embedding embeds the transition indications in meta data tags associated with segments of the audio.

29. The storage medium of claim 28, wherein the meta data tags are MP3 ID3 tags.