System and method for persistent multimedia conferencing services

• US 9,344,396 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Geppert, Birgit, Roessler, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): PITARO, RYAN F
• Application Number:
  US12/749,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20100251142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,241 Days
• Field of Search: 715/753, 715/758
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• 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 1/247 Telephone sets including user guidance or feature selection means facilitating their use user interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones H04M1/724
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/42 Graphical user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5027 Dropping a party from a conference conducting a computer conference, e.g. admission detection H04L12/1822
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/62 user interface aspects of conference calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42161 via computer interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 : Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42289 : with carrierprovider selection by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/563 : User guidance or feature selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/564 : whereby the feature is a sub-conference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 : for social networking applications

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for managing a virtual meeting room communication session. The method includes establishing a persistent virtual meeting room communication session, the virtual meeting room communication session including shared resources available to virtual meeting room communication session participants, displaying to meeting participants a set of connected graphical elements representing a structure of the virtual meeting room communication session via a graphical user interface (GUI), receiving from one of the meeting participants input associated with the set of connected graphical elements, the input having an action associated with the virtual meeting room communication session, and performing the action based on received user input. The virtual meeting room communication session can persist when no participants are in the communication session. The persistent virtual meeting room can record changes in session context such as a record of session control events, resource changes, and participant listings.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing, via a processor, a persistent virtual meeting room communication session, the persistent virtual meeting room communication session comprising shared resources available to virtual meeting room communication session participants, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session and the shared resources persist when no participants are in the virtual meeting room communication session;

displaying to meeting participants a set of connected graphical elements representing a structure of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session via a graphical user interface, wherein the set of connected graphical elements comprises a hub graphical element representing a virtual meeting room, a set of participant graphical elements representing the meeting participants, and a set of resource graphical elements representing the shared resources, and wherein the set of participant graphical elements and the set of resource graphical elements are connected to the hub graphical element;

receiving, via the processor, from a meeting participant, input associated with the set of connected graphical elements, the input having an action associated with the persistent virtual meeting room communication session; and

performing, via the processor, the action based on the received user input.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session has at least one of a scheduled start time, a scheduled end time, or a scheduled duration.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the shared resources comprise a state, and wherein the state comprises a document, a user activity, user-generated data, and session control data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session maintains a state of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session after a participants'"'"' communication session is terminated.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a meeting room host has full permissions to manipulate the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein non-host participants have limited permissions to manipulate the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein shared resources comprise at least one of a service, an application, materials, an agenda, or document version control.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of participant graphical elements and the set of resource graphical elements are connected to the hub graphical element with a plurality of connecting lines.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein an appearance of the connecting lines changes to indicate that the persistent virtual meeting room communication session is divided.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session persists as long as the shared resources are available in the virtual meeting room.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session persists based on an output of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session is inactive, and wherein the action is to reactivate the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session persists for at least one of a preparation phase or a wrap-up phase.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session includes a sidebar communication session.

15. The method of claim 1, the method further recording an interaction history within the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the interaction history comprises at least one of participant activity, session output, byproducts, voice recording, meeting nodes, text messaging history, transcriptions, video recordings, produced documents, modified documents, or presented documents.

17. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising presenting at least a portion of the interaction history based on a user request.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the interaction history comprises at least one of session control, a history of splitting events, or a history of merging events.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording information regarding participants in the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising updating information regarding participants in the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the information regarding participants in the persistent virtual meeting room communication session is contact information.

22. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

establishing a persistent virtual meeting room communication session, the persistent virtual meeting room communication session comprising shared resources available to persistent virtual meeting room communication session participants, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session and the shared resources persist when no participants are in the virtual meeting room communication session;

displaying to meeting participants a set of connected graphical elements representing a structure of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session via a graphical user interface, wherein the set of connected graphical elements comprises a hub graphical element representing a virtual meeting room, a set of participant graphical elements representing the meeting participants, and a set of resource graphical elements representing the shared resources, and wherein the set of participant graphical elements and the set of resource graphical elements are connected to the hub graphical element;

receiving, from a meeting participant, input associated with the set of connected graphical elements, the input having an action associated with the persistent virtual meeting room communication session; and

performing the action based on the received user input.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session has at least one of a scheduled start time, a scheduled end time, or a scheduled duration.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the shared resources comprise a state, and wherein the state comprises at least one of a document, a user activity, user-generated data, or session control data.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session maintains a state of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session after a participants'"'"' communication session is terminated.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein a meeting room host has full permissions to manipulate the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein non-host participants have limited permissions to manipulate the persistent virtual meeting room communication session.

28. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

establishing a persistent virtual meeting room communication session, the persistent virtual meeting room communication session comprising shared resources available to persistent virtual meeting room communication session participants, wherein the persistent virtual meeting room communication session and the shared resources persist when no participants are in the virtual meeting room communication session;

displaying to meeting participants a set of connected graphical elements representing a structure of the persistent virtual meeting room communication session via a graphical user interface, wherein the set of connected graphical elements comprises a hub graphical element representing a virtual meeting room, a set of participant graphical elements representing the meeting participants, and a set of resource graphical elements representing the shared resources, and wherein the set of participant graphical elements and the set of resource graphical elements are connected to the hub graphical element;

receiving, from a meeting participant, input associated with the set of connected graphical elements, the input having an action associated with the persistent virtual meeting room communication session; and

performing the action based on the received user input.

29. The computer-readable storage device of claim 28, wherein the shared resources comprise at least one of a service, an application, materials, an agenda, or document version control.

30. The computer-readable storage device of claim 28, wherein the set of participant graphical elements and the set of resource graphical elements are connected to the hub graphical element with a plurality of connecting lines.

31. The computer-readable storage device of claim 30, wherein an appearance of the connecting lines changes to indicate that the persistent virtual meeting room communication session is divided.

32. The computer-readable storage device of claim 28, wherein graphical elements representing a particular participant indicate at least one of permissions, capabilities, or available communication modalities of the particular participant.