INTEGRATING ONLINE AND TELEPHONIC CONFERENCE PLATFORMS AND ENABLING SCREENING OF ATTENDEE QUESTIONS REGARDLESS OF WAY ATTENDEE JOINS

1 . A controller of a virtual conferencing system, the controller comprising:

one or more storage devices storing therein a plurality of software instructions;

one or more communications interfaces coupled to an online conference platform and a telephonic conference platform; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more storage devices and the one or more communications interfaces;

wherein, by the one or more processors executing the software instructions loaded from the one or more storage devices, the one or more processors are configured to:

command the online conference platform to create an online main conference room associated with a meeting;

command the telephonic conference platform to create a telephonic main conference room associated with the meeting; and

command at least one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform to join the online main conference room and the telephonic main conference room together such that audio in the online main conference room is passed to the telephonic main conference room and vice versa; wherein the online main conference room and the telephonic main conference room joined together form an integrated main conference room.

2 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein:

one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform is hereinafter referred to as a first conference platform;

another of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference is hereinafter referred to as a second conference platform; and

the one or more processors are further configured to:

command the first conference platform to initially create a first main conference room and obtain a code from the first conference platform for identifying the first main conference room;

command the second conference platform to call in to the first conference platform utilizing a call leg and join the first main conference room by passing the code from the second conference platform to the first conference platform via the call leg; and

command the second conference platform to create a second main conference room based on the call leg; wherein the first main conference room and the second main conference room are thereby joined together to form the integrated main conference room such that participant audio in the first main conference room is passed to the second main conference room and vice versa via the call leg.

3 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

command the telephonic conference platform to create a first telephonic broadcast room associated with the meeting;

command the telephonic conference platform to configure the first telephonic broadcast room to be a listen-only room such that new attendees cannot speak in the first telephonic broadcast room; and

command at least one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform to forward audio from the integrated main conference room to the first telephonic broadcast room such that attendees of the first telephonic broadcast room can hear audio of the integrated main conference room.

4 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive from a webserver a message from a moderator user to move a particular online meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question;

command the online conference platform to add the particular online meeting participant to the online main conference room;

receive a network address corresponding to the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room from the online conference platform;

transmit a webpage from the webserver to the particular online meeting participant; and

include in the webpage an element having a source address corresponding to the network address of the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room thereby causing an online main conference room user interface (UI) for the particular online meeting participant to execute by a browser application running on a computing device of the particular online meeting participant.

5 . The controller of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive from the webserver a message from the moderator user to move a particular telephonic meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question; and

command the telephonic conference platform to move the particular telephonic meeting participant from a first telephonic broadcast room to the telephonic main conference room.

6 . The controller of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

detect that the moderator user for the meeting has logged in to the webserver;

transmit a moderator webpage to a computing device operated by the moderator user; and

include in the moderator webpage one or more user interface (UI) controls at least including a list of meeting participants that have screened questions;

wherein the list of meeting participants that have screened questions includes both telephonic participants that have joined the meeting via the telephonic conference platform and online participants that have joined the meeting via the online conference platform.

7 . A method of controlling a virtual conferencing system, the method being performed by one or more processors of a controller for the virtual conferencing system, the method comprising:

commanding an online conference platform to create an online main conference room associated with a meeting;

commanding a telephonic conference platform to create a telephonic main conference room associated with the meeting; and

commanding at least one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform to join the online main conference room and the telephonic main conference room together such that audio in the online main conference room is passed to the telephonic main conference room and vice versa; wherein the online main conference room and the telephonic main conference room joined together form an integrated main conference room.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform is hereinafter referred to as a first conference platform, and another of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference is hereinafter referred to as a second conference platform, the method further comprising:

commanding the first conference platform to initially create a first main conference room and obtain a code from the first conference platform for identifying the first main conference room;

commanding the second conference platform to call in to the first conference platform utilizing a call leg and join the first main conference room by passing the code from the second conference platform to the first conference platform via the call leg; and

commanding the second conference platform to create a second main conference room based on the call leg; wherein the first main conference room and the second main conference room are thereby joined together to form the integrated main conference room such that participant audio in the first main conference room is passed to the second main conference room and vice versa via the call leg.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

commanding the telephonic conference platform to create a first telephonic broadcast room associated with the meeting;

commanding the telephonic conference platform to configure the first telephonic broadcast room to be a listen-only room such that new attendees cannot speak in the first telephonic broadcast room; and

commanding at least one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform to forward audio from the integrated main conference room to the first telephonic broadcast room such that attendees of the first telephonic broadcast room can hear audio of the integrated main conference room.

10 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving from a webserver a message from a moderator user to move a particular online meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question;

commanding the online conference platform to add the particular online meeting participant to the online main conference room;

receiving a network address corresponding to the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room from the online conference platform;

transmitting a webpage from the webserver to the particular online meeting participant; and

including in the webpage an element having a source address corresponding to the network address of the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room thereby causing an online main conference room user interface (UI) for the particular online meeting participant to execute by a browser application running on a computing device of the particular online meeting participant.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving from the webserver a message from the moderator user to move a particular telephonic meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question; and

commanding the telephonic conference platform to move the particular telephonic meeting participant from a first telephonic broadcast room to the telephonic main conference room.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

detecting that the moderator user for the meeting has logged in to the webserver;

transmitting a moderator webpage to a computing device operated by the moderator user; and

including in the moderator webpage one or more user interface (UI) controls at least including a list of meeting participants that have screened questions;

wherein the list of meeting participants that have screened questions includes both telephonic participants that have joined the meeting via the telephonic conference platform and online participants that have joined the meeting via the online conference platform.

13 . A controller of a virtual conferencing system, the controller comprising:

one or more storage devices storing therein a plurality of software instructions;

one or more communications interfaces coupled to a first conference platform and a second conference platform; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more storage devices and the one or more communications interfaces;

wherein, by the one or more processors executing the software instructions loaded from the one or more storage devices, the one or more processors are configured to:

command the first conference platform to create a first main conference room associated with a meeting;

command the second conference platform to create a second main conference room associated with the meeting; and

command at least one of the first conference platform and the second conference platform to join the first main conference room and the second main conference room together such that audio in the first main conference room is passed to the second main conference room and vice versa; wherein the first main conference room and the second main conference room joined together form an integrated main conference room.

14 . The controller of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

command the first conference platform to initially create the first main conference room and obtain a code from the first conference platform for identifying the first main conference room;

command the second conference platform to call in to the first conference platform utilizing a call leg and join the first main conference room by passing the code from the second conference platform to the first conference platform via the call leg; and

command the second conference platform to create the second main conference room based on the call leg; wherein the first main conference room and the second main conference room are thereby joined together to form the integrated main conference room such that participant audio in the first main conference room is passed to the second main conference room and vice versa via the call leg.

15 . The controller of claim 13 , wherein one of the first conference platform and the second conference platform is an online conference platform and another of the first conference platform and the second conference platform is a telephonic conference platform, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

command the telephonic conference platform to create a first telephonic broadcast room associated with the meeting;

command the telephonic conference platform to configure the first telephonic broadcast room to be a listen-only room such that new attendees cannot speak in the first telephonic broadcast room; and

command at least one of the online conference platform and the telephonic conference platform to forward audio from the integrated main conference room to the first telephonic broadcast room such that attendees of the first telephonic broadcast room can hear audio of the integrated main conference room.

16 . The controller of claim 13 , wherein the first conference platform is an online conference platform, the first main conference room is an online main conference room, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive from a webserver a message from a moderator user to move a particular online meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question;

command the online conference platform to add the particular online meeting participant to the online main conference room;

receive a network address corresponding to the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room from the online conference platform;

transmit a webpage from the webserver to the particular online meeting participant; and

include in the webpage an element having a source address corresponding to the network address of the particular online meeting participant in the online main conference room thereby causing an online main conference room user interface (UI) for the particular online meeting participant to execute by a browser application running on a computing device of the particular online meeting participant.

17 . The controller of claim 16 , wherein the second conference platform is a telephonic conference platform, the second main conference room is a telephonic main conference room, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive from the webserver a message from the moderator user to move a particular telephonic meeting participant to the integrated main conference room to ask a question; and

command the telephonic conference platform to move the particular telephonic meeting participant from a first telephonic broadcast room to the telephonic main conference room

18 . The controller of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

detect that the moderator user for the meeting has logged in to the webserver;

transmit a moderator webpage from the webserver to a computing device operated by the moderator user; and

include in the moderator webpage one or more user interface (UI) controls at least including a list of meeting participants that have screened questions;

wherein the list of meeting participants that have screened questions includes both first participants that have joined the meeting via the first conference platform and second participants that have joined the meeting via the second conference platform.