Topic categorized instant message communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10116599-B2
Application number	US-201414153645-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2014
Priority date	Dec 11, 2013
Publication date	Oct 30, 2018
Grant date	Oct 30, 2018

Abstract

Techniques are presented for defining, for an online conference session, a plurality of pages, which may be preconfigured, based on information received from a moderating participant having administrative privileges for the conference session, each page corresponding to a discussion topic of a text-based conversation. A request is received from the moderating participant to select one of the plurality of pages. After a page has been selected, the selected page is synchronized such that the selected page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants, and subsequent text-based communications are displayed in the display area of the selected page.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
defining, for an online conference session, a plurality of pages based on information received from a moderating participant having administrative privileges for the conference session, each page corresponding to a discussion topic of a text-based communication;
selecting, by a request received from the moderating participant, one of the plurality of pages;
synchronizing the selected page, such that the selected page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of one or more other participants in the online conference session;
after selecting one of the plurality of pages, chronologically displaying, in the display of the selected page, an entirety of the text-based communication that is generated while the selected page remains selected until another page of the plurality of pages is selected; and
receiving, from the moderating participant, commands to manage the online conference session, the commands including a command to add a new page corresponding to a new discussion topic, a command to delete at least one page of the plurality of pages, a command to modify the selected page, a command to search for a specific page of the plurality of pages, and a command to close the selected page.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting by the moderating participant the another page of the plurality of pages.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising assigning a subsequent text-based communication by the moderating participant or the other participants on the another page and displaying the subsequent text-based communication in the display of the another page.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein defining further comprises defining, for each page, a corresponding tab, and displaying each corresponding tab in a display window of the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a new tab corresponding to the new page in a display window of the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants, and wherein each previously displayed text-based communication associated with respective ones of the discussion topics is maintained on each corresponding page.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising archiving text-based communications displayed on each page of the plurality of pages separately from each other.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein defining further comprises defining the plurality of pages prior to a beginning of the online conference session.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising synchronizing the new page such that the new page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants in the online conference session.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising synchronizing the modified page, such that the modified page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants in the online conference session.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the command to modify the selected page includes a command to change a name of the discussion topic of the selected page.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a network interface unit configured to enable communications over a network; and
a processor coupled to the network interface unit, and configured to:
define, for an online conference session, a plurality of pages based on information received from a moderating participant having administrative privileges for the conference session, each page corresponding to a discussion topic of a text-based communication;
select, based upon information received from a request from the moderating participant, one of the plurality of pages;
synchronize the selected page, such that the selected page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of one or more other participants in the online conference session;
after selecting one of the plurality of pages, chronologically display, in the display of the, selected page, an entirety of the text-based communication that is generated while the selected page remains selected until another page of the plurality of pages is selected; and
receive, from the moderating participant, commands to manage the online conference session, the commands including a command to add a new page corresponding to a new discussion topic, a command to delete at least one page of the plurality of pages, a command to modify the selected page, a command to search for a specific page of the plurality of pages, and a command to close the selected page.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive a request from the moderating participant, the request selecting the another page of the plurality of pages;
assign a subsequent text-based communication by the moderating participant or the other participants to the another page; and
display the subsequent text-based communication in the display of the another page.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to define, for each page, a corresponding tab, and display each corresponding tab in a display window of the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to display a new tab corresponding to a new page in a display window of the moderating participant and each of the one or more other participants, and wherein each previously displayed text-based communication associated with respective ones of the discussion topics is maintained on each corresponding page.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the command to modify the selected page includes a command to change a name of the discussion topic of the selected page.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to archive text-based communications displayed on each page of the plurality of pages separately from each other.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, are operable to:
define, for an online conference session, a plurality of pages based on information received from a moderating participant having administrative privileges for the conference session, each page corresponding to a discussion topic of a text-based communication;
select, based upon a request received from the moderating participant, one of the plurality of pages;
synchronize the selected page, such that the selected page is displayed to the moderating participant and each of one or more other participants in the online conference session;
after selecting one of the plurality of pages, chronologically display, in the display of the selected page, the entirety of the text-based communication that is generated while the selected page remains selected until another page of the plurality of pages is selected; and
receive, from the moderating participant, commands to manage the online conference session, the commands including a command to add a new page corresponding to a new discussion topic, a command to delete at least one page of the plurality of pages, a command to modify the selected page, a command to search for a specific page of the plurality of pages, and a command to close the selected page.

18. The computer-readable stor

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Wu Qiangsheng
• Yang Yong
• Pei Kaijun
• Wu Jiang
• Lukacsy Katarina

Classifications

• G06F3/0483 Primary

  Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor · CPC title

• H04L51/046 Primary

  Interoperability with other network applications or services · CPC title

• H04L65/4038

  with floor control · CPC title

• H04L12/1822

  Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title