Granted Patent B1

US 8,488,764 · App. 11/860,700 · Granted Jul 16, 2013

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. A method, comprising:

(a) receiving, from a subscriber, configuration information for a multiparty conference call, the configuration information including a plurality of: an identity of one or more of the participants for the conference call, contact information for one or more of the conference call participants, a start time for the conference call, an end time for the conference call, and a conference call duration, wherein the configuration information sets forth an order in which to join at least first, second and third participants upon initiation of the conference call, independent of a time to join the at least first, second and third participants, wherein the configuration information sets forth at least one event, wherein the at least one event joins the third participant to the conference call contingent upon a specific one of the first or second participants disconnecting from the conference call, and wherein the configuration information additionally sets forth at least a second even upon which joining the third participant is contingent and wherein the second even joins the third participant at a specified time in the conference call even if the specific one of the first or second participants has not disconnected from the conference call by the specified time;

(b) creating data structures associated with the configuration information;

(c) at an appropriate time, retrieving the data structures and contacting automatically each of the participants in accordance with the data structures; and

(d) connecting each of the participants with one another to initiate the conference call.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) generating automatically conferencing invitations to the participants identified in the configuration information, the conferencing invitations comprising at least some of the configuration information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the order is different from an order in which the participants respond to conferencing invitations associated with scheduling the conference call and an alphabetical ordering of the participants based on the participants' first, middle, and/or last names.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information additionally sets forth a plurality of different times for joining different participants.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a first set of participants has a common first time to be joined and at least one other participant has a different second time to be joined.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (d) comprises the substeps:

(D1) contacting automatically a first participant at a first electronic address selected by the subscriber;

(D2) determining automatically that the first participant has not answered at the first electronic address;

(D3) accessing automatically presence information of the first participant;

(D4) selecting automatically a second electronic address based on the presence information; and

(D5) contacting automatically the first participant at the second electronic address.

7. A computer readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions to perform the steps of claim 1 , wherein the computer readable medium is a tangible medium.

8. A conferencing system, comprising:

(a) a conference call configuration module operable to receive, from a subscriber, configuration information for a multiparty conference call, the configuration information including a plurality of: an identity of one or more of the participants for the conference call, contact information for one or more of the conference call participants, a start time for the conference call, an end time for the conference call, and a conference call duration, wherein the configuration information sets forth an order in which to join at least first and second participants upon initiation of the conference call, independent of a time to join either of the first and second participants, wherein the configuration information sets forth at least one event and wherein the at least one event joins a specific participant contingent upon another specific participant disconnecting from the conference call, and wherein the configuration information additionally sets forth at least a second even upon which joining a participant is contingent and wherein the second even joins a third participant at a specified time in the conference even if the specific one of the first or second participants has not disconnected from the conference call by the specified time;

(b) a set of data structures associated with the configuration information; and

(c) a conference call placement module operable, at an appropriate time, to retrieve the data structures, contact automatically each of the participants in accordance with the data structures, and connect each of the participants with one another to initiate the conference call.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:

(d) an electronic calendar module operable to generate automatically conferencing invitations to the participants identified in the configuration information, the conferencing invitations comprising at least some of the conferencing information.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the order is different from an order in which the participants respond to conferencing invitations associated with scheduling the conference call and an alphabetical ordering of the participants based on the participants' first, middle, and/or last names.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the configuration information sets forth a plurality of different times for joining different participants.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein a first set of participants has a common first time to be joined and at least one other participant has a different second time to be joined.

13. An automated conferencing method, comprising:

(a) receiving a set of participants for a conference call, the set including at least first, second, and third participants, receiving an order in which the set of participants are to be joined to the conference call upon initiation of the conference call, receiving configuration information comprising a precondition for joining the third participant to the conference call, wherein the precondition is an event that joins the third participant to the conference call contingent upon a specific one of the first or second participants disconnecting from the conference call, and receiving a start time for the conference call, wherein the configuration information sets forth at least a second even upon which joining a participant is contingent and wherein the second even joins the third participant at a specified time in the conference even if the specific one of the first or second participants has not disconnected from the conference call by the specified time;

(b) scheduling the conference call in an electronic calendar of at least one of the participants; and

(c) accessing presence information for a plurality of the participants in advance of the conference call, wherein at least one of the following is true:

(C1) using the presence information in scheduling the conference call; and

(C2) in temporal proximity to the conference call start time, using the presence information to contact the participants to set up the conference call;

(d) joining at least first and second participants included in the set of participants;

(e) after joining the first and second participants, the second participant disconnecting from the conference call; and

(f) after the second participant disconnects from the conference call, joining a third participant, wherein disconnecting the second participant is the precondition for joining the third participant.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein (C1) is true.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein (C2) is true.

16. A computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions to perform the steps of claim 13 , wherein the computer readable medium is a tangible medium.

Assignments (24)