Conducting private communications during a conference session

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018359293-A1
Application number	US-201715616861-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 7, 2017
Priority date	Jun 7, 2017
Publication date	Dec 13, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Described herein is a system configured to generate and/or display a side chat conversation within a conference session. The side chat conversation enables communications between some, but not all, of the users participating in a conference session. Consequently, the side chat conversation enables private information to be shared within the context of a conference session. In various examples, a user can provide input that defines an accessibility life span for the side chat conversation and/or an individual communication submitted to the side chat conversation. In this way, access to the side chat conversation and/or the individual communication is limited to a defined period of time and/or to a defined number of accesses. Furthermore, the side chat conversation and/or the individual communication does not become part of a historic record of the conference session over time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
one or more processing units; and a computer-readable medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the one or more processing units to:
cause content of a conference session to be displayed via a client computing device, the conference session including a plurality of users;
cause a first chat conversation included within the conference session to be displayed via the client computing device;
receive, from the client computing device, a request to generate a second chat conversation within the conference session, the second chat conversation between a subset of users of the plurality of users, the request identifying individual ones of the subset of users;
generate, based at least in part on the request, the second chat conversation;
cause the second chat conversation included within the conference session to be displayed via the client computing device;
receive, from the client computing device, a communication submitted to the second chat conversation; and
enable the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second chat conversation is a private chat conversation such that individual users of the plurality of users other than the subset of users are unable to access communications shared via the second chat conversation.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication is associated with an accessibility life span, the computer-executable instructions further causing the one or more processing units to prohibit further access, by the subset of users, to the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication upon expiration of the accessibility life span.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the accessibility life span comprises one of:
a defined duration for accessing the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication; a defined number of times the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication can be accessed by individual ones of the subset of users; or a defined total number of times the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication can be accessed by the subset of users.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication comprises one or more of a message, a file, an expression, a video, or a link to an object.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a pop up window that overlays the content of the conference session.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a chat display region of a user interface, wherein the chat display region is configured to switch between displaying the first chat conversation and displaying the second chat conversation based at least in part on selection of a tab.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a chat display region of a user interface, wherein the chat display region is configured to concurrently display the first chat conversation and the second chat conversation.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises adding a representation of the communication to an interactive timeline of the conference session, the communication being accessible by individual ones of the subset of users via the representation added to the interactive timeline.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises adding a marker associated with the communication to a transcript of the conference session, the communication being accessible by individual ones of the subset of users via the marker added to the transcript.

11 . A method comprising:
causing content of a conference session to be displayed via a client computing device, the conference session including a plurality of users; causing a first chat conversation included within the conference session to be displayed via the client computing device; receiving, from the client computing device, a request to generate a second chat conversation within the conference session, the second chat conversation between a subset of users of the plurality of users, the request identifying individual ones of the subset of users; generating, based at least in part on the request, the second chat conversation; causing the second chat conversation included within the conference session to be displayed via the client computing device; receiving, from the client computing device, a communication submitted to the second chat conversation; and enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication is associated with an accessibility life span, the method further comprising prohibiting further access, by the subset of users, to the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication upon expiration of the accessibility life span, wherein the accessibility life span comprises one of:
a defined duration for accessing the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication; a defined number of times the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication can be accessed by individual ones of the subset of users; or a defined total number of times the at least one of the second chat conversation or the communication can be accessed by the subset of users.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a pop up window that overlays the content of the conference session.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a chat display region of a user interface, wherein the chat display region is configured to switch between displaying the first chat conversation and displaying the second chat conversation based at least in part on selection of a tab.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises causing the second chat conversation to be displayed in a chat display region of a user interface, wherein the chat display region is configured to concurrently display the first chat conversation and the second chat conversation.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein enabling the communication to be accessed by the subset of users via the second chat conversation comprises adding a representation of the communication to an interactive timeline of the conference session, the communication being accessible by individual ones of the subset of users via the representation added to the interactive timeline.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein enabling the communication

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Faulkner Jason Thomas
• Baker Casey

Classifications

• G06F3/04842

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

• H04L65/403 Primary

  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

• H04L65/4015

  where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference · CPC title

• G06F3/0483

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