Location-Aware Conferencing
Various embodiments of systems, methods, and computer programs are disclosed for providing an online conference. One method comprises: a conferencing system obtaining location information from a plurality of participants; the conferencing system associating the unique location information with a corresponding participant identifier; the conferencing system establishing an audio conference with the plurality of participants; the conferencing system presenting a conference interface to the plurality of participants; and the conference interface selectively displaying a map view of the audio conference which identifies a location of each of the plurality of participants.
1 . A method for providing an online conference, the method comprising:
a conferencing system obtaining location information from a plurality of participants;
the conferencing system associating the unique location information with a corresponding participant identifier;
the conferencing system establishing an audio conference with the plurality of participants;
the conferencing system presenting a conference interface to the plurality of participants; and
the conference interface selectively displaying a map view of the audio conference which identifies a location of each of the plurality of participants.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system obtaining location information comprises: the conferencing system receiving an IP address.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system obtaining location information comprises: a client device associated with one of the participants sending GPS coordinates to the conferencing system.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system obtaining location information comprises:
one of the participants providing the location information to the conferencing system.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing system obtaining location information comprises:
the conferencing system receiving the location information associated with a participant identifier from a social networking system.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conferencing interface displaying the map view comprises:
the conferencing system sending the location information to a map service; and
the map service providing the map view.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the conference interface comprises a virtual conference location based on a simulated location view.
8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising the conference interface displaying, for each of the participants, an object identifying the corresponding participant in a computer-simulated location.
9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising the conferencing system customizing the simulated location view based on the location information.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: the conference interface presenting location-specific resources to the participants based on the corresponding location information.
11 . A method for providing an online conference, the method comprising:
a conferencing system obtaining location information from a plurality of participants;
the conferencing system associating the unique location information with a corresponding participant identifier;
the conferencing system establishing an audio conference with the plurality of participants; and
the conferencing system selectively displaying during the audio conference via a conference interface a map view graphically identifying the location information for the plurality of participants.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the location information comprises one of the following: GPS coordinates; an IP address; data from a social networking communication channel; user-specified information; an originating telephone number.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further the conferencing system customizing the presentation of the conference interface based on the location information.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the conferencing system selectively displaying the location information for the plurality of participants comprises: selectively displaying a map view.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the selectively displaying the map view comprises:
sending the location information to a map service; and
the map service providing the map view.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the conference interface comprises a virtual conference location.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the virtual conference location comprises:
a first graphical representation of a conference location according to a simulated location view; and
for each of the plurality of participants, a second graphical representation identifying the participant with the corresponding location information.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising the conferencing system customizing the simulated location view for at least one of the participants based on the location information corresponding to the participant.
19 . A method for joining an online conference having an audio component, the method comprising:
a client device accessing a conferencing system to join an online conference having an audio component;
the conferencing system obtaining location information associated with the client device;
the conferencing system determining a dial-in telephone number for accessing the audio component of the online conference, the dial-in telephone number based on the location information;
the conferencing system providing the dial-in telephone number to the client device; and
the client device joining the audio component of the online conference via the dial-in telephone number.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the location information comprises one of the following: GPS coordinates of the client device; an IP address from a carrier associated with the client device; and user-specified information.