Systems and methods for remote huddle collaboration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10789574-B1
Application number	US-201715844076-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 15, 2017
Priority date	Jun 6, 2014
Publication date	Sep 29, 2020
Grant date	Sep 29, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for remote huddle collaboration are disclosed. The huddle collaboration system may include a huddle management system which may include an authentication module, a data processing module, and a module manager, among other components. Huddle collaboration system may allow huddle members of a company to fully engage in remote huddle sessions through different kind of client computing devices, in a consistent way regardless of their location. The system may act as an alternative to traditional whiteboards, displaying, collecting, and storing information during an active huddle session, where this information may be available to the users in the form of one or more standard and/or custom sub-applications, according to the user's and/or project's requirements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A server-implemented method comprising:
generating, by a huddle management server, a session associated with a huddle board record for an electronic interaction between a plurality of user computers including a first user computer and a second user computer;
generating, by the huddle management server during the session, a huddle board display page having a plurality of sub-applications and an association with more than at least one user,
wherein an initial view of the huddle board display page has information from a first sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications and a second sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications, and wherein the initial view of the huddle board display page has:
a first huddle board display page having a first link associated with an object of the information from the first sub-application configured to activate a secondary view of the huddle board display page having information from the first sub-application,
a second huddle board display page having a second link associated with an object of the information from the second sub-application configured to activate a secondary view of the huddle board display page having information from the second sub-application;

receiving, by the huddle management server, a signal indicating activation of the first or second links displayed by the first huddle board display page or the second huddle board display page;
upon receiving an indication that a sub-application has been activated by the second user computer in a network communication with the huddle board display page, determining, by the huddle management server, if the second user computer is authorized to activate the sub-application based upon access rights in the huddle board record;
generating, by the huddle management server, the secondary view of the huddle board display page associated with the activated sub-application based upon the description in the data store and with content generated by the activated sub-application;
upon receiving an input from the user computer to annotate the secondary view of the huddle board display page, generating, by the huddle management server, a tertiary view of the huddle board display page based upon the description in the data store and content generated by any activated sub-applications including the input of updated information associated with the huddle board display page presented as an overlay on the huddle board display page, and
associating, by the huddle management server, the input with the first or the second huddle board display page in the huddle board record based on which sub-application was active at the time the input was received.

2. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of sub-applications comprises a pre-defined content and has a standard layout.

3. The server-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the pre-defined content is selected from a group consisting of morale field, recognition field, announcements field, company news field, and calendar field.

4. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a software tool enabling remote collaboration between users in a digital huddle environment.

5. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to an image-based sub-application, wherein the image-based sub-application comprises a library of images for selection by users.

6. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a text-based sub-application, wherein the text-based sub-application comprises a text column of a pre-defined characters for writing by users.

7. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a text-based sub-application, wherein the text-based sub-application comprises a text column for users to publish text for sharing with other users.

8. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a text-based sub-application to provide news and alerts to users during active huddle.

9. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a fillable calendar application for users to share dates with one another.

10. The server-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications comprises a configurable content editable by users upon authorization.

11. A collaboration system comprising:
a data store, wherein the data store comprises a description associated with a huddle board display page associated with a huddle board record having a plurality of sub-applications and an association with more than one user,
wherein an initial view of the huddle board display page has information from a first sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications and a second sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications, and
wherein the initial view of the huddle board display page comprises:
a first huddle board display page having a first link associated with an object of the information from the first sub-application configured to activate a secondary huddle board display page having information from the first sub-application, and
a second huddle board display page having a second link associated with an object of the information from the second sub-application configured to activate a secondary huddle board display page having information from the second sub-application; and

a computer processor coupled to the data store and in communication through the Internet and programmed to:
generate a session associated with the huddle board record for an electronic interaction between a plurality of user computers including a first user computer and a second user computer;
receive a signal indicating activation of the first or second links displayed by the first huddle board display page or the second huddle board display page,
upon receiving an indication that a sub-application has been activated by the second user computer in Internet communication with the huddle board display page, determine if the second user computer is authorized to activate the sub-application based upon access rights in the huddle board record;
serve the secondary view of the huddle board display page associated with the activated sub-application based upon the description in the data store and with content generated by the activated sub-application,
upon receiving an input from the user computer to annotate the secondary view of the huddle board display page, serve a tertiary view of the huddle board display page based upon the description in the data store, and including content generated by any activated sub-applications associated with the huddle board display page and the input presented as an overlay on the huddle board display page, wherein the input includes updated information associated with the huddle board display page, and
associate the input with the first or the second huddle board display page in the huddle board record based on which sub-application was active at the time the input was received.

12. The collaboration system of claim 11 , wherein at least one sub-application of the plurality of sub-applications corresponds to a software tool enabling remote collaboration between users in a digital huddle environment.

13. The collaboration system of claim 11

Assignees

• Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co

Inventors

• Casale Robert
• O'Malley Abigail
• Teller Kedzie

Classifications

• H04L63/08

  for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32) · 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

• H04L63/104

  Grouping of entities · CPC title

• G06F16/245

  Query processing · CPC title

• H04L65/403

  Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences (data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15) · CPC title