MANAGING PARTICIPANTS IN A CONFERENCE VIA A CONFERENCE USER INTERFACE

1 . A method for managing participants in an online conference via a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

displaying a conference interface via a graphical user interface on a client device connected to a conferencing system via a communication network;

displaying a contact list via the graphical user interface, the contact list comprising a plurality of draggable contact objects;

selecting one of the draggable contact objects;

moving the selected contact object to the conference interface;

determining contact information corresponding to the selected contact object; and

the conferencing system establishing a connection with a participant associated with the contact information.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a participant object identifying the participant in the conference interface.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

selecting the participant object;

moving the selected participant object from the conference interface; and

disconnecting the connection to the participant associated with the participant object.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising removing the participant object from the conference interface.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the moving the selected contact object to the conference interface comprises dragging the selected contact object to a predetermined portion of the conference interface and releasing the selected contact object.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the dragging and releasing the selected contact object involves a touchscreen display.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the dragging and releasing the selected contact object involves a cursor and an input device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system establishing the connection with the participant comprises adding the participant to an audioconference.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system establishing the connection with the participant comprises:

the client device sending the contact information to the conferencing system;

the conferencing system sending a request via the contact information; and

the conferencing system receiving a response to the request.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises a telephone number, and the conferencing system establishing the connection with the participant comprises initiating an outgoing call to the telephone number.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises an email address, and the conferencing system establishing the connection with the participant comprises sending a request to the email address.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the request includes information for accessing the conferencing system and establishing the connection.

13 . A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium and executable by a processor, the computer program for managing participants in an online conference via a graphical user interface on a client device, the computer program comprising:

logic configured to present a conference interface via a graphical user interface on a client device connected to a conferencing system via a communication network;

logic configured to display a contact list via the graphical user interface, the contact list comprising a plurality of contact objects;

logic configured to receive a user selection of one of the contact objects;

logic configured to determine that the selected contact object is moved to and released in a predetermined region in the graphical user interface;

logic configured to determine contact information corresponding to the selected contact object; and

logic configured to send the contact information to a conferencing system;

logic configured to receive a response from the conferencing system that a connection has been established with a participant associated with the contact information; and

logic configured to display a participant object associated with the participant in the conference interface.

14 . The computer program of claim 13 , further comprising:

logic configured to select the participant object;

logic configured to move the selected participant object from the conference interface; and

logic configured to disable the connection with the participant associated with the participant object.

15 . The computer program of claim 14 , further comprising logic configured to remove the participant object from the conference interface.

16 . The computer program of claim 14 , wherein the logic configured to move the selected contact object to the conference interface comprises a drag-and-drop functionality.

17 . The computer program of claim 16 , wherein the drag-and-drop functionality is performed via one of a touchscreen display and an input device operatively associated with a cursor.

18 . The computer program of claim 13 , wherein the contact information comprises one of a telephone number, an email address, and social networking profile information.

19 . A computer system for providing an online conference, the computer system comprising:

a conferencing system for hosting an online conference via a communication network; and

a client device in communication with the conferencing system via the communication network, the client device comprising a memory, a processor and a participant management functionality embodied in the memory and executed by the processor, the participant management functionality for enabling a user of the client device to manage participants in the online conference via a graphical user interface, the participant management functionality comprising:

logic configured to display via a graphical user interface a conference interface presented to the client device by the conferencing system;

logic configured to display a contact list via the graphical user interface, the contact list comprising a plurality of contact objects;

logic configured to receive via the graphical user interface a user selection of one of the contact objects via one of a touchscreen display and a cursor input device;

logic configured to monitor movement and release of the selected contact object via the graphical user interface relative to a display region of the conference interface;

logic configured to determine, in response to the movement and release of the selected contact object, contact information corresponding to the selected contact object; and

logic configured to initiate an addition of a participant associated with the contact information to the online conference.

20 . The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the movement and release of the selected contact object is performed via one of a touchscreen display and an input device operatively associated with a cursor, and wherein the contact information comprises one of a telephone number, an email address, and social networking profile information.