Systems, Methods, and Computer Programs for Providing a Conference User Interface

1 . A method for providing a conference, the method comprising:

a conferencing system establishing an audio conference between a plurality of participants via a communication network;

the conferencing system presenting a conference interface to the participants via a graphical user interface and a corresponding client device in communication with the conferencing system via the communication network; and

the conference interface displaying a unique participant object identifying each of the plurality of participants in the audio conference according to a graphical representation specified by the corresponding participant.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the conference interface presenting, via the unique participant objects, contact information associated with the corresponding participant.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the unique participant objects are selectable by the participants to display the corresponding contact information.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the contact information is determined from one of an account profile associated with the conferencing system and a social networking profile associated with a social networking system.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: the conferencing interface presenting a presentation display.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the conference interface presenting the presentation display comprises: presenting the presentation display in the conference interface using a fly-in animation.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the fly-in animation comprises:

introducing the presentation display from a first portion of the conference interface; and

moving the presentation display to a second portion of the conference interface.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the unique participant objects are automatically rearranged in response to the fly-in animation.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation comprises one or more of a two-dimensional graphic, a three-dimensional graphic, an avatar, an icon, or a video.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation is selected from a predefined list of default images.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique participant object comprises an interactive object having a plurality of selectable display faces.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

displaying the graphical representation in a first selectable display face;

displaying a participant profile in a second selectable display face; and

displaying a social networking feed corresponding to the participant in a third selectable display face.

13 . A method for providing a conference, the method comprising:

a conferencing system establishing an audio conference between a plurality of participants via a communication network, each participant having a corresponding participant identifier associated with a corresponding audio stream;

the conferencing system presenting a conference interface to the participants via a graphical user interface and a corresponding client device in communication with the conferencing system via the communication network; and

the conference interface displaying a unique participant object identifying each participant, the unique participant object linked to the corresponding participant identifier and the corresponding audio stream.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the conference interface displaying the unique participant object comprises:

receiving a participant selection of a visual representation for identifying the participant;

presenting the visual representation in the unique participant object.

15 . A computer system comprising:

a conferencing system for establishing an audio conference session between a plurality of computing devices connected via a communication network; and

a server configured to communicate with the conferencing system and the plurality of computing devices via the communication network, the server comprising one or more processors and a virtual conference location application, which is stored in a computer-readable medium and is executed by the processors, the virtual conference location application comprising:

logic configured to receive, from the conferencing system, audio stream data identifying an audio stream and a corresponding participant in the audio conference session associated with each computing device;

logic configured to generate a virtual conference location for the audio conference session based on a predefined simulated location view, the virtual conference location comprising:

a first graphical representation of a conference location according to the predefined simulated location view; and

a second graphical representation of each of the plurality of participants with corresponding contact information displayed in the conference location;

logic configured to synchronously present the virtual conference location and the audio conference session to the computing devices via the communication network.

16 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the second graphical representation is specified by the corresponding participant.

17 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the second graphical representation comprises one of a two-dimensional graphic, a three-dimensional graphic, an avatar, and an icon.

18 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the second graphical representation is selected from a predefined list of default images.

19 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the logic configured to receive the audio stream data comprises: logic configured to communicate with an application program interface associated with a conference platform.

20 . The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the conference platform comprises a VoIP platform.

21 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the logic configured to generate the virtual conference location comprises: logic configured to receive, from one of the participants, a selection for the predefined simulated location view.

22 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the logic configured to generate the virtual conference location comprises: logic configured to select the predefined simulated location view based on information related to one of the participants.

23 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the virtual conference location application further comprises:

logic configured to receive, from a first of the participants, a first selection for the predefined simulated location view; and

logic configured to receive, from a second of the participants, a second selection for the predefined simulated location view, the second selection different than the first selection.

24 . The computer system of claim 23 , wherein the logic configured to generate the virtual conference location comprises:

logic configured to generate the virtual conference location for the first participant based on the first selection for the predefined simulated location view; and

logic configured to generate the virtual conference location for the second participant based on the second selection for the predefined simulated location view.

25 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the logic configured to generate the virtual conference location comprises: logic configured to select the predefined simulated location view based on information related to one or more of the participants.

26 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the virtual conference location application is further configured to automatically change the predefined simulated location view based on a quantity of participants.

27 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the virtual conference location application further comprises: logic configured to obtain the contact information associated with at least one of the participants prior to the virtual conference location.

28 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the virtual conference location application further comprises: logic configured to obtain, during the audio conference session, the contact information associated with one of the participants from another of the participants.

29 . The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the virtual conference location application further comprises: logic configured to obtain the contact information associated with at least one of the participants from a social networking site.

30 . A method for integrating an audio conference session in a virtual conference location, the method comprising:

a server establishing an audio conference session between a plurality of computing devices via a conference system;

the server configuring a computer-simulated conference location for the audio conference session;

obtaining, for a participant associated with each computing device in the audio conference session, a graphical representation of the participant and contact information;

the server populating the computer-simulated conference location with the graphical representation and contact information for each participant; and

the server providing, to the computing devices via a communication network, the audio conference session within the computer-simulated conference location.

31 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the obtaining the graphical representation comprises the server receiving a participant selection of the graphical representation.

32 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the server configuring the computer-simulated conference location comprises:

the server receiving, from one of the participants, a selection for a location view; and

the server providing the computer-simulated conference location according to the location view.

33 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the server configuring the computer-simulated conference location comprises:

the server determining a location view based on information related to at least one of the participants; and

the server providing the computer-simulated conference location according to the location view.

34 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the server configuring the computer-simulated conference location for the audio conference session comprises:

the server receiving, from a first of the participants, a first selection for a location view; and

the server receiving, from a second of the participants, a second selection for the location view, wherein the second selection is different than the first selection; and

the server providing the computer-simulated conference location to the first participant according to the first selection; and

the server providing the computer-simulated conference location to the second participant according to the second selection.

35 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the computer-simulated conference location is configured according to a location view.

36 . The method of claim 35 , further comprising the server changing the location view during the audio conference session based on a quantity of participants.

37 . The method of claim 35 , further comprising the server selecting the location view based on information associated with the audio conference session.

38 . A computer program, which is embodied in a computer-readable medium and executable by a processor, for providing an online conference, the computer program comprising:

logic configured to receive, from a computing device, a request to join an audio conference;

logic configured to receive from a participant, via the computing device, a selection of a graphical object to visually represent the participant in a virtual conference location;

logic configured to graphically represent the participant in the virtual conference location with the selected graphical object; and

logic configured to provide, to the computing device, the virtual conference location with the audio conference.

39 . A computer program embodied in a computer readable medium and executable by a processor, the computer program for providing a conference interface associated with an audio conference, the computer program comprising logic configured to:

establish an audio conference between a plurality of participants via a communication network;

present a conference interface to the participants via a graphical user interface and a corresponding client device in communication with the conferencing system via the communication network; and

display in the conference interface a unique participant object identifying each of the plurality of participants in the audio conference according to a graphical representation specified by the corresponding participant.

40 . The computer program of claim 39 , wherein the graphical representation comprises one or more of a two-dimensional graphic, a three-dimensional graphic, an avatar, an icon, or a video.

41 . The computer program of claim 39 , wherein the graphical representation is selected from a predefined list of default images.

42 . The computer program of claim 39 , wherein the unique participant object comprises an interactive object having a plurality of selectable display faces.

43 . The computer program of claim 42 , further comprising logic configured to:

display the graphical representation in a first selectable display face;

display a participant profile in a second selectable display face; and

display a social networking feed corresponding to the participant in a third selectable display face.