Automatic voice conference actions driven by potential conferee presence

[0001] This invention relates to voice conferencing and presence information and management systems. In particular, this invention relates to automatically taking action on behalf of a voice conference based on potential conferee presence status.

[0002] Rapid developments in communication technology, driven by strong market demand, have led to sophisticated voice conferencing systems and presence systems. Voice conferencing systems establish, maintain, and terminate voice conferences between multiple conferees. Presence systems track and report whether an individual is on the phone, at their desk, in a meeting, or has another predefined presence state.

[0003] In the past, voice conferencing systems and presence systems operated relatively independently. Voice conference participants could determine which potential conferees had actually joined the voice conference by checking a voice conference application, such as a voice conference workgroup portal. However, the voice conference participants had to manually check a different application, such as a personal portal, to determine the presence state of any of their contacts.

[0004] When potential conferees were absent from the voice conference, the participating conferees could manually check the presence status of the potential conferees. Manually checking presence status was distracting, unproductive, and time consuming. Moreover, the success of a voice conference often depends on the ability of conferees to communicate their ideas, understand the substantive content of the voice conference, and contribute to the discussion. Accordingly, the success of the voice conference could be compromised not only by the absence of expected participants, but also by the distracting manual investigation into the presence status of the potential conferees.

[0005] A need has long existed for enhanced voice conferencing.

[0006] A voice conference service system takes action on behalf of a voice conference based on the presence status of a potential conferee of the voice conference. The service system initially requests a presence trigger system to establish a notification trigger on the potential conferee. The notification trigger determines when the service system should take action. The presence trigger system receives presence updates for the potential conferee from a presence server and responsively determines whether the presence update satisfies the notification trigger. When the presence update satisfies the notification trigger, the presence trigger system initiates an action on behalf of the voice conference by calling the service system to carry out a specified action.

[0007] The notification trigger may specify a physical presence state for the potential conferee. Alternatively, the notification trigger may specify a media aggregation state for the potential conferee. As examples, the physical presence state may be ‘Available’, ‘In Office’, or ‘Working at Home’, while the media aggregation state may be ‘Office Voice Available’ or ‘Mobile Voice Available’.

[0008] The service system may take a wide range of actions of behalf of the voice conference. As one example, the voice conference action may be to communicate a presence notification to a participating conferee of the voice conference. The presence notification, for example, may inform the participating conferee that the potential conferee is available to join the voice conference. Alternatively or additionally, the voice conference action may be to prompt the voice conference, or specific participating conferees of the voice conference, about whether to add the potential conferee to the voice conference. A participating conferee may then provide a response which, for example, directs the service system to initiate a call to the potential conferee in an attempt to add the potential conferee to the voice conference.

[0009] The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. Further aspects and advantages of the invention are discussed below in conjunction with the preferred embodiments. Any one or more of the above described aspects or aspects described below may be used independently or in combination with other aspects described.

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a communication network in which a presence trigger system and a voice conference service system interact with a presence server and a voice conference system.

[0011] FIG. 2 shows a presence trigger system.

[0012] FIG. 3 shows a voice conference service system.

[0013] FIG. 4 shows message and information flows between entities in the communication network leading to a participating conferee notification of the availability of a potential conferee.

[0014] FIG. 5 shows message and information flows between entities in the communication network leading to a join request communicated to a potential conferee of a voice conference.

[0015] FIG. 6 shows message and information flows between entities in the communication network leading to a prompt to a participating conferee of whether to join a potential conferee to a voice conference.

[0016] FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of the processing which the entities in the communication network may perform to take actions on voice conferences in response to presence triggers.

[0017] The elements illustrated in the Figures interoperate as explained in more detail below. Before setting forth the detailed explanation, however, it is noted that all of the discussion below, regardless of the particular implementation being described, is exemplary in nature, rather than limiting. For example, although selected aspects, features, or components of the implementations are depicted as being stored in hardware memories, all or part of systems and methods consistent with the systems may be stored on, distributed across, or read from other machine-readable media, for example, secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs; other forms of ROM or RAM; transmitted signals; or other machine readable media.

[0018] As another example, although specific components and implementations of the processing systems will be described, methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the processing systems may include additional or different components. For example, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other types of circuits or logic. Flags, parameters, identifiers, lists, data, databases, tables, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be stored in a single memory or database, may be distributed, or may be logically and physically organized in many different ways. The programs discussed below may be parts of a single program, may be separate programs, or may be distributed across multiple memories and/or processors. Similarly, the functionality of the systems described below may be implemented in a single processing system or program, or may be distributed among multiple distinct servers, processing systems, programs, or other network entities or agents.

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a communication network 100. The entities interacting across the network 100 include a presence server 102, a voice conference service system 104, and a presence trigger system 106. In addition, a voice conference system 108 establishes, maintains, and terminates voice conferences between multiple conferees. FIG. 1 shows two participating conferees 110 and 112 who have joined and who are participating in a voice conference. FIG. 1 also shows a potential conferee 114 who may joint the voice conference, but has not.

[0020] A media server 116 is also present in FIG. 1. The media server 116 stores multimedia content such as voice, video, sound or other content. The media server 116 may deliver the content to the voice conference system 104 or conferees 110-114. As will be described in more detail below, the media server 116 may deliver a prompt to the participating conferees 110 and 112 whether to add the potential conferee 114 to the voice conference.

[0021] The entities 102-116 communicate with one another over a network or interconnection of networks 118. For example, the entities 102-116 may employ the Real Time Protocol (RTP) over the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or other network protocols. Signaling between the entities 102-116 may proceed according to the H.323 packet-based multimedia communications system standard, or according to other communication standards. The network 118 may include public and private networks and may deliver data to home or business computers, programs, PDAs, pagers, cell phones, wireline phones, internet phones, or any other communication device, electronic system, or system component, agent, or program.

[0022] The entities 102-116 communicating through the network 100 may employ protocols that adhere to any desired specification. For example, the entities may employ the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) developed for Internet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification and instant messaging, the Jabber protocol, or SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE). The form and content of the presence information may be established according to protocols consistent with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 2778 or IETF RFC 2779. Alternatively or additionally, the entities 102-116 may employ extensions to RFC 2778 or RFC 2779, or may employ proprietary protocols.

[0023] The conferees in a voice conference may include human beings, electronic devices, computer programs, agents, or other entities. A conferee may be characterized by one or more presence states, such as physical presence states or aggregated media presence states. The physical presence states may be relative to one or more endpoints (e.g., communication devices) to which the conferee has access. Table 1 shows examples of physical presence states and descriptions of the physical presence states.

Table 1
Presence States
Presence State	Description
‘Available’	The conferee is in the office and available
	to participate in a voice conference.
‘On the Phone’	The conferee is in the office, but is on the phone.
‘In Office’	The conferee is in the office.
‘Be Right Back’	The conferee is in the office but is not available to
	participate in a voice conference.
‘In Meeting’	The conferee is in the office but is not available to
	participate in a voice conference because they
	are in a meeting.
‘On Business Trip’	The conferee is not in the office and is not
	available to participate in a voice conference.
‘Out of Office’	The conferee is not in the office and is not
	available to participate in a voice conference.
‘On Vacation’	The conferee is not available to participate
	in a voice conference.
‘No Interruptions’	The conferee is in the office but is not available to
	participate in a voice conference.
‘Working	The conferee is working and available to participate
Remotely’	in a voice conference, but is not in the office.
‘Unknown’	It is not known whether the conferee is available to
	participate in a voice conference.

[0024] For example, the ‘Be Right Back’ presence state indicates that the conferee is in the office, but temporarily away from the phone. Different, fewer, or additional presence states may be used. For example, an implementation may use the presence states ‘Available’, ‘Busy’, and ‘Away’.

[0025] The presence states may be applicable to aggregate entities such as workgroups or group phone connections. For example, a presence state may reflect the availability of a group of customer service representatives in a service or support department. When no representative is available to handle the call, the associated presence state may be ‘On the Phone’. The presence state may reflect the availability of one or more individual group members, or the group as a whole. Presence states may also be applicable to aggregated media, i.e., a media aggregation state. The media aggregation state may apply to specific types of communication or may apply over a subset of endpoints associated with a conferee. As an example, the media aggregation state may apply to wireless voice communications or wireline voice communication. A conferee who is associated with multiple endpoints (e.g., multiple phone numbers) may have a presence state that aggregates availability over any subset of the endpoints. For example, a conferee with a desk phone and a cell phone may have an aggregated media presence state of ‘Voice Busy’ when at least one of the phones is in use. As another example, the conferee may have an aggregated media presence state of ‘Voice Available’ when both phones are not in use.

[0026] The entities 102-116 may exchange presence information. For example, the endpoints associated with the conferee 110 may monitor conferee activity and communicate presence updates to the presence server 102. The presence message may indicate, as examples, that the conferee has initiated a phone call, ended a phone call, or started to type an instant message or email message.

[0027] The presence information may be communicated in the form of a presence document. In one implementation, the presence document is an extensible markup language (XML) document that identifies a conferee and the presence or availability of the conferee with respect to one or more ‘addresses’, including endpoints such as telephone numbers, email addresses, instant messaging addresses, or the like. The presence server 102 may aggregate information from one or more of a conferee's endpoints. The presence server 102 may communicate a presence update, including the aggregate presence document in whole or in part, to entities that request (e.g., poll) or subscribe to the presence information for a particular conferee.

[0028] As will be explained in more detail below, the presence trigger system 106 maintains a notification trigger for the potential conferee 114. The presence trigger system 106 receives presence updates for the potential conferee 114 from the presence server 102. When the presence update satisfies the notification trigger, the presence trigger system 106 initiates execution of a voice conference action for the voice conference. The presence trigger system 106 may initiate the action by communicating a presence trigger notification to the voice conference service system 104. In turn, the service system 104 may execute any preconfigured action on or with respect to the voice conference, such as sending a presence notification for the potential conferee to one or more of the participating conferees 110 and 112.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows an example of the presence trigger system 106, including a communication interface 202, a processor 204, and a memory 206. The communication interface 202 receives requests to setup notification triggers on potential voice conferees. The requests may include, as examples, the presence state(s) which will give rise to a trigger notification, an identifier (e.g., an IP address, port number, MAC address, or other identifier) of the entity to which to send the notification trigger, and an identification of the potential conferee associated with the notification trigger.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a notification trigger 208 in the memory 206, set to the presence state ‘Available’. The notification recipient identifier 210 indicates that the notification trigger will be sent to the service system 104. The potential conferee identifier 212 associates the notification trigger 208 with the individual ‘Dave’. A trigger evaluation program 214 in the memory 206 checks the presence update 216 received from the presence server 102 against the notification trigger 208 for the associated conferee. When the presence state conveyed in the presence update 216 satisfies the notification trigger 208, the trigger evaluation program 214 sends a trigger notification to the service system 104. The trigger notification may include an identifier of the potential conferee whose updated presence satisfied the notification trigger 208, a participating conferee identifier (e.g., the voice conference originator), a voice conference identifier (e.g., an identifier of a workgroup which is holding the voice conference), a text message, or other data.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows an example of the service system 104. The service system 104 includes a communication interface 302, a processor 304, and a memory 306. The communication interface 302 receives presence trigger notifications 308 (e.g., from the presence trigger system 106) and takes actions on behalf of a voice conference. The memory 306 stores parameters which determine what action to take for any potential conferee who is being watched. To that end, the memory 306 may store and associate a potential conferee identifier 310 with an action identifier 312.

[0032] An action execution program 314 handles the presence trigger notifications. In particular, the action execution program 314 examines the trigger notification, determines which potential conferee it matches, and determines (e.g., through the associated action identifier) what action to take. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the service system 104 has received a presence trigger notification on Dave. The action execution program 314 determines, through the action identifier 312 associated with the potential conferee identifier 310, that the action to take is to notify the voice conference originator that Dave is now available to join the voice conference.

[0033] Table 2 provides examples of actions which the action execution program 314 may take or may initiate on behalf of a voice conference.

TABLE 2
Actions
Action	Description
Notify Participating	Send an email, IM, voice, or other message
Conferee	to one or more of the participating conferees
	to provide notice that the potential conferee
	has a presence state which meets the
	presence trigger set for the potential
	conferee.
Notify Potential Conferee	Send an email, IM, voice, or other message
	to the potential conferee to provide notice
	that the potential conferee's presence is
	desired in an existing voice conference.
Add Potential Conferee to	Call the potential conferee and connect the
the voice conference	potential conferee to the voice conference.
Prompt voice conference	Communicate a prompt to one or more of the
whether to add the Potential	participating conferees whether to add the
Conferee	potential conferee. When a participating
	conferee responds affirmatively, call and
	connect the potential conferee to the voice
	conference.
Initiate message session	Open an IM, voice, or other message
with Potential Conferee	session between one or more of the
	participating conferees and the potential
	conferee.

[0034] Table 3 provides examples of notification techniques for the participating conferees.

TABLE 3
Notifications
Notification	Description
Email Message	Send an email message which notifies the recipient
	that the potential conferee has a presence state
	which meets the presence trigger set for the
	potential conferee.
SMS	Send a short message service text message which
	notifies the recipient that the potential conferee has a
	presence state which meets the presence trigger set
	for the potential conferee.
Pager	Send an alert to a pager to notify the pager holder
	that the potential conferee has a presence state
	which meets the presence trigger set for the
	potential conferee.
IM	Send an instant message which notifies the recipient
	that the potential conferee has a presence state
	which meets the presence trigger set for the
	potential conferee.
GUI indicator	Create a notice window, flash an icon, or display or
	manipulate any other user interface element to
	provide a notice that the potential conferee has a
	presence state which meets the presence trigger set
	for the potential conferee.
VC Announcement	Deliver a prompt into the existing voice conference
	to alert the participating conferees that the potential
	conferee has a presence state which meets the
	presence trigger set for the potential conferee.

[0035] Table 4 provides examples of notification techniques for the potential conferee.

TABLE 3
Notifications
Notification	Description
Email Message	Send an email message which notifies the potential
	conferee that an existing voice conference is awaiting
	their participation.
SMS	Send a short message service text message which
	notifies the potential conferee that an existing voice
	conference is awaiting their participation.
Pager	Send an alert to a pager to notify the potential conferee
	that an existing voice conference is awaiting their
	participation.
IM	Send an instant message to notify the potential
	conferee that an existing voice conference is awaiting
	their participation.
GUI indicator	Create a notice window, flash an icon, or display or
	manipulate any other user interface element to provide
	a notice to the potential conferee that an existing voice
	conference is awaiting their participation.
Audible	Call the potential conferee, deliver a voice message to
Announcement	their communication device, or otherwise alert the
	potential conferee that an existing voice conference is
	awaiting their participation.

[0036] Any action or notification may be set as a default setting for voice conferences. Alternatively or additionally, a conferee (e.g., the voice conference originator) may establish personal settings which are communicated to the service system 104 or action system 106. The personal settings may override default settings, if any are in place. The settings may be specific to an individual conferee, to a workgroup for which the voice conference is established, or may be specified, set, or determined in other ways based on other factors.

[0037] FIG. 4 shows an example of message flow 400 in the network 100. In particular, the voice conference originator (e.g., the participating conferee 110) initiates a voice conference, resulting in a voice conference setup message 402 to the voice conference system 108. In addition, the participating conferee 110 (or the voice conference system 108) sends a trigger request message 404 to the voice conference service system 104. The trigger request message 404 may specify the potential conferee to monitor, the presence states on which to trigger a presence notification, the entity to notify with the presence notification, an action to take when the presence state is satisfied, the preferred type of notification, or other information.

[0038] The voice conference service system 104 receives the trigger request message 404 and sends a trigger setup message 406 to the presence trigger system 106. The presence trigger system 106 responsively establishes a new notification trigger in memory. The presence trigger system 106 may then send a subscription message 408 to the presence server 102 for presence updates for the potential conferee.

[0039] The presence server 102 provides presence update messages 410 to the presence trigger system 106. When the presence state communicated in the presence update message satisfies the notification trigger, the presence trigger system 106 sends a trigger notification 412 to the voice conference service system 104. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the voice conference service system 104 takes the action of sending a notification 414 (e.g., a presence notification) the participating conferee 110 that the potential conferee has met the specified presence trigger and, for example, is available to join the voice conference.

[0040] FIG. 5 shows a second example of message flow 500 in the network 100. In this example, however, the service system 104 takes the action of communicating a join request 502 to the potential conferee 114. The join request may take the form of an email message, instant message, or other message to the potential conferee 114. Alternatively or additionally, the join request 502 may include placing a call to the potential conferee 114, prompting the potential conferee 114 whether to join the voice conference, and automatically joining the potential conferee 114 to the voice conference.

[0041] A third example of message flow 600, shown in FIG. 6, includes interaction with the media server 116. The service system 104 takes the action of prompting the participating conferee 110 about whether to add the potential conferee 114. To that end, the service system 104 may send a prompt request message 602 to the media server 116.

[0042] The media server 116 then joins the voice conference and delivers the prompt 604 to the voice conference system 108. The voice conference system 108 communicates the prompt 606 to one or more of the participating conferees 110 and 112. The participating conferees 110 and 112 may provide a response 608 through a voice command, DTMF tones, or other mechanism to the voice conference system 108. The voice conference system 108 may then provide a response 610 to the service system 104. Depending on whether the participating conferees 110 and 112 have chosen to add the potential conferee 114, the service system 104 may proceed with a join request 612 to the potential conferee 114.

[0043] FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram 700 of the acts taken by the systems and programs described above. A participating conferee (e.g., the voice conference originator) or the voice conference system 108 may communicate a trigger notification request to the voice conference service system 104 (Act 702). The service system 104 sends a trigger setup message to the presence trigger system 106 (Act 704). Thus, the service system 104 and presence trigger system 106 will monitor the presence of potential conferees of the voice conference on behalf of the participating conferee and voice conference.

[0044] Upon receiving the trigger setup message, the presence trigger system 106 establishes a notification trigger 208, notification recipient identifier 210, and potential conferee identifier 212 (Act 706). The presence trigger system 106 subscribes to presence updates for the potential conferee with the presence system 102 (Act 708). Presence updates arrive at the presence trigger system (Act 710).

[0045] The trigger evaluation program 214 determines whether the presence state delivered in a presence update satisfies the notification trigger 208 (Act 712). If so, the presence trigger system 106 sends a trigger notification (Act 714). The trigger notification may include an identifier of the potential conferee whose presence changed, an identifier of a participating conferee (e.g., the voice conference originator), a voice conference identifier (e.g., an identifier of a workgroup which is holding the voice conference), a text message, or any other desired data.

[0046] The trigger notification arrives at the specified recipient for the notification trigger, such as the service system 104 (Act 716). The action execution program 314 in the system 104 determines the potential conferee and the associated action to take (Act 718). Once the action is determined, the action execution program 314 executes the action on behalf of the voice conference (Act 720), such as notifying a participating conferee or the potential conferee, sending a join request to the potential conferee, or prompting a participating conferee whether to join the potential conferee.

[0047] The actions taken automatically on behalf of the voice conference allow participating conferees to listen, understand, and contribute to the content of the voice conference. The participating conferees are not distracted by frequently checking the presence status of expected, but absent, conferees. The actions may include automatic voice conference notification of potential conferee availability, automatically contacting and joining the potential conferee to the voice conference, or other actions.

[0048] It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.