Method and apparatus for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session

1. A method for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session, comprising:

providing an Internet-based interface to a session moderator, said Internet-based interface configured for said session moderator to enter a request for data streaming a multiparty conference session;

receiving said request from said session moderator for data streaming the multiparty conference session; and

in response, automatically establishing a data stream of said conferencing session, without any human intervention, wherein establishing said automated data stream includes:

recording the multiparty conference session; and

data streaming the multiparty conference session to listen-only participants thereby enabling listen-only participants to connect to the multiparty conference session without using additional conference ports and/or conference resources.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically transcoding the recorded data stream at a time unrelated to the multiparty conference session into an Internet-playback format.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

creating an address to identify where the data stream of the multiparty conference session is accessible; and

providing said address to said session moderator and other participants of the conference session.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a fetch request from a user for the data stream of the multiparty conference session, the fetch request at least identifying said multiparty conference session; and

distributing the data stream via the Internet to the user based on the fetch request.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said automated data streaming process comprises:

sending a communication interface designation from a transcoding platform to a conference-state-control platform;

reserving a communication interface associated with the communication interface designation from the pool of communication interfaces; and

creating a connection for communication, between the communication interface associated with the communication interface designation and a multipoint telephony platform.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the creating a connection includes initiating-a connection to the transcoding platform using the communication interface associated with the communication interface designation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said automated data streaming process proceeds as follows:

sending an initiation request from a conference-state-control platform to the transcoding platform;

initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to a multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

sending the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command, wherein the data stream includes voice and non-voice data stream.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said data stream has voice content only.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a data-stream-initiation request from a session moderator for data streaming a multiparty conference session; and

means for automatically establishing, in response to the data-stream-initiation request, a data stream associated with the multiparty conference session without any human intervention, wherein the means for establishing the data stream includes:

means for recording the multiparty conference session; and

means for data streaming the multiparty conference session to listen-only participants thereby enabling listen-only participants to connect to the multiparty conference session without using additional conference ports and/or conference resources.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

means for automatically transcoding the recorded data stream at a time unrelated to the multiparty conference session into an Internet-playback format.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

means for creating an address to identify where the data stream is accessible; and

means for providing the address to the session moderator or other participants of the conference session.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the means for establishing the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session comprises:

means for obtaining a communication-line designation;

means for reserving a communication line associated with the communication-line designation from a pool of communication lines; and

means for initiating a connection from the communication line associated with the communication-line designation to a multipoint telephony platform.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the means for establishing the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session comprises:

means for sending an initiation request from a conference-state-control platform to a transcoding platform;

means for initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to a multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

means for sending the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command.

14. A computer program product having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

receive a data-stream-initiation request from a session moderator for data streaming a multiparty conference session, said data-stream-initiation request received from an Internet-based interface; and

automatically establish, in response to the data-stream-initiation request, a data stream associated with the multiparty conference session without human intervention after receiving the data-stream-initiation request, wherein establishing said automated data stream includes:

recording the multiparty conference session; and

data streaming the multiparty conference session to listen-only participants thereby enabling listen-only participants to connect to the multiparty conference session without using additional conference ports and/or conference resources.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , having instructions stored thereon, the additional instructions when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

automatically transcode the recorded data stream at a time unrelated to the multiparty conference session into an Internet-playback format.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 , having instructions stored thereon, the additional instructions when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

create a resource identifier that uniquely identifies the data stream of the multiparty conference session; and

deliver the data stream to a user, upon a data stream request received from the user, said data stream request containing at least the resource identifier.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the instruction to establish the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session includes the following additional instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

select a communication interface from a pool of communication interfaces, each of the pool of communication interfaces corresponding to a communication interface designation;

send the communication interface designation corresponding to the selected communication interface from the virtual participant to a conference-state-control platform, the virtual participant reserving the communication interface associated with the communication interface designation; and

initiate a connection between the communication interface associated with the communication interface designation and a multipoint telephony platform.

18. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the instruction to establish the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session includes the following additional instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

send an initiation request from a conference-state-control platform to the virtual participant, the virtual participant being a transcoding platform;

initiate, from the conference-state-control platform to a multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

send the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command.

19. A method for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session, comprising:

receiving a data-stream-initiation request from an Internet-based interface associated with a session moderator;

automatically data streaming the multiparty conference session based on the received data-stream-initiation request; and

automatically transcoding the data-streamed conference session.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

recording the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session upon receiving a record request from the session moderator; and

the automatic transcoding of the recorded data stream being performed such that the recorded data stream is transcoded into an Internet-playback format.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

create a resource identifier that uniquely identifies the data stream of the multiparty conference session; and

deliver the data stream to a user, upon a data stream request received from the user, said data stream request containing at least the resource identifier.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the automatic data streaming proceeds as follows:

sending a communication line designation from a transcoding platform to a conference-state-control platform, the conference-state-control platform reserving a communication line associated with the communication-line designation from a pool of communication lines; and

initiating a connection from the communication line associated with the communication-line designation to a multipoint telephony platform.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the automatic data streaming proceeds as follows:

sending an initiation request from a conference-state-control platform to a transcoding platform;

initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to a multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

sending the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session has voice content only.

25. An apparatus, comprising:

a multipoint telephony platform;

a transcoding platform coupled to the multipoint telephony platform; and

a conference-state-control platform coupled to the multipoint telephony platform and to the transcoding platform, the conference-state-control platform automatically establishing a data stream associated with a multiparty conference session between the multipoint telephony platform and the transcoding platform,

the transcoding platform recording the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session, the transcoding platform automatically transcoding the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session is recorded into an Internet-playback format.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein:

the conference-state-control platform sends an address request from a session moderator to the transcoding platform, the address request identifying at least said conference session;

the conference-state-control platform pushes a resource address associated with the conference session to the session moderator;

the transcoding platform receives a fetch request from a user, said fetch request including the resource address; and

the transcoding platform distributes the data stream associated with said conference session via the Internet to the user based on the received fetch request.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the conference-state-control platform establishes the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session by the following:

sending an initiation request from the conference-state-control platform to the transcoding platform;

initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to the multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

sending the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command.

29. An apparatus, comprising:

a multipoint telephony platform configured to be coupled to a telephone network;

a transcoding platform coupled to the multipoint telephony platform and configured to be coupled to a telephone network; and

a conference-state-control platform coupled to the multipoint telephony platform and to the transcoding platform, the conference-state-control platform automatically establishing a data stream associated with a multiparty conference session between the multipoint telephony platform and the transcoding platform,

the transcoding platform recording the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session is recorded into an Internet-playback format.

31. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein:

the conference-state-control platform sends an address request from a session moderator to the transcoding platform, the address request identifying at least said conference session;

the conference-state-control platform pushes a resource address associated with the conference session to the session moderator;

the transcoding platform receiving a fetch request from a user based on the resource address; and

the transcoding platform distributing the data stream via the Internet to the user based on the received fetch request.

32. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the conference-state-control platform establishes the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session by the following:

sending an initiation request from the conference-state-control platform to the transcoding platform;

initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to the multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command; and

sending the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform based on the data-stream start command.

33. A method for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session, comprising:

sending an initiation request from a conference-state-control platform to a transcoding platform;

in response to said initiation request, automatically initiating, from the conference-state-control platform to a multipoint telephony platform, a data-stream start command, the data-stream start command being configured to trigger transmitting a data stream associated with the multiparty conference session from the multipoint telephony platform to the transcoding platform; and

providing said data stream associated with the multiparty conference session to one or more users,

wherein, none of the above steps require any human intervention.

34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising:

receiving a connection confirmation at the conference-state-control platform, the connection confirmation indicating that a connection associated with the multiparty conference session has been established between the multipoint telephony platform and the transcoding platform; and

sending a connection confirmation from the conference-state-control platform to an Internet-based interface associated with a session moderator.

35. A method for initiating a multiparty conference session, comprising:

receiving, through an Internet-based interface, a conference request from a session moderator associated with a multiparty conference session for data streaming said conference session; and

creating and sending a machine-readable data-stream-initiation request based on the conference request, the data-stream-initiation request being configured to automatically establish a data stream associated with the multiparty conference session, the data stream being automatically established without further human intervention after receipt of the conference request.

36. The method of claim 35 , wherein:

the data-stream-initiation request is further configured to cause the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session to be recorded.

37. The method of claim 35 , wherein:

the data-stream-initiation request is further configured to cause the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session to be recorded; and

the data-stream-initiation request is further configured to cause the data stream to be transcoded into an Internet-playback format.

38. The method of claim 35 , wherein:

the data-stream-initiation request is further configured to cause the data stream associated with the multiparty conference session to be recorded; and

the data-stream-initiation request is further configured to cause the data stream to be transcoded into an Internet-playback format, the transcoded data stream being subsequently distributed via the Internet.

39. A method for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session, comprising:

receiving a data-stream-initiation request from an Internet-based interface; and

automatically establishing, upon receiving the data-stream-initiation request, a data stream associated with the multiparty conference session, and providing said data stream to conference participants at run time of said conference session, the automatically establishing being performed without human intervention after receiving the data-stream-initiation request.

40. The method of claim 39 , wherein the data stream is recorded for subsequent playback.

41. The method of claim 40 , wherein the recorded data stream is accessed via a packet switched network.

42. The method of claim 41 , wherein the packet switched network is the Internet.

43. The method of claim 40 , wherein the recorded data stream is accessed via a circuit switched network.

44. The method of claim 43 , wherein the circuit switched network is a telephone network.

45. The method of claim 39 , wherein the automatically establishing and providing said data stream at run time of the multiparty conference session allows for conference participation through either the Internet or a telephone network.

46. The method of claim 39 , wherein the automatically establishing and providing said data stream at run time of the multiparty conference session allows for conference participation by receive-only participants, wherein each receive-only participant can observe the conference session and cannot contribute to the conference session, and wherein no additional conference resource is required for adding more receive-only participants to the conference session.

47. An automated conference management system, comprising:

a web-based interface configured to receive a plurality of data stream requests simultaneously, each of the plurality of data stream requests comprising identification of a multiparty conference session to be data streamed; and

a conference controller coupled with said interface, said controller configured to receive said plurality of data stream requests from said interface, and further configured to process each request to initiate data streaming of a respective multiparty conference session.

48. The system of claim 47 , further comprising:

a transcoder platform having a pool of connection interfaces, each connection interface having a unique designator, wherein the transcoder platform is configured to:

receive a message from the controller to reserve a connection interface for one of the plurality of data stream requests;

determine whether a connection interface is available; and if so, respond to the controller with the designator of the available connection interface and reserve the available connection interface for a pre-defined period of time.

49. The system of claim 48 , further comprising:

a multipoint telephony platform configured to communicate with the transcoder over a telephone network, the multipoint telephony platform further configured to receive an instruction from the controller to start data streaming a conference session, and in response to the instruction, initiate a connection to the transcoder via the designated connection line.

50. The system of claim 48 , wherein the transcoder platform comprises a plurality of transcoding engines, each transcoding engine associated with a communication interface and its designator, wherein each transcoding engine is configured to transcode a data stream of a conference session independently, thereby allowing multiple data streams for multiple respective conference sessions to be transcoded simultaneously.

51. The system of claim 49 , further comprising:

a streaming server coupled to the transcoder, the streaming server configured to receive a plurality of data streams from the transcode, each of the plurality of data streams associated with a respective conference session, the streaming server further configured to provide access to the plurality of data streams based on a conference participant's fetch request.