Automatically record and reschedule conference calls for playback based upon calendar invitations and presence monitoring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9253330-B2
Application number	US-201414194201-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2014
Priority date	Feb 28, 2014
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

There are provided a system, a method and a computer program product for managing conflicts with an attendee not able to join a conference call. The system schedules one or more conference calls and identifies a conflict between the schedules of the conference calls. The system automatically updates a corresponding user's electronic calendar based on the scheduled conference calls and schedules a bot to attend a conflicting conference call instead. The system records the conflicting conference calls that the bot attends. The system stores, in a storage device, the recorded conference calls as one or more files. The system schedules a follow up time for the attendee to listen to the recording.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a computer for managing a conference call, the conference call having associated therewith, for each participant on the conference call, an indicium displayed on a display mechanism, method comprising:
receiving, by the computer, invitations of one or more conference calls;
detecting, by the computer, a conflict between the one or more conference calls and electronic calendar entries;
displaying by the computer, for a corresponding user each detected conflict;
receiving by the computer, from the corresponding user, a decision of which of the one or more conference calls the user will attend and which of the one or more conference calls are to be recorded without an attendance of the user when there exists the detected conflict;
in response to receiving the decision, recording, by a bot operating on the computer, a content of each of the conference calls that the user does not attend, wherein the bot has associated therewith an indicium displayed on the display mechanism and wherein the indicium of the bot is distinct from the indicium that would have been displayed had the user attended each of the conference calls; and
storing by the computer, in a storage device, the recorded content of the conference calls as one or more files;
identifying, by the computer, a free time in an electronic calendar to lock a time period for the user to listen to the recording.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, by the computer, the recorded conference calls to the corresponding user.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sending includes:
embedding the one or more files in a corresponding entry of the electronic calendar; or
making one or more links to the one or more files in the corresponding entry of the electronic calendar.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scheduling includes:
preventing the recording.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recording includes:
monitoring whether the corresponding user joined the conference calls that the bot attends.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recording includes:
automatically calling in conference call numbers of the one or more conference calls.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recording includes:
configuring the bot that represents the corresponding user to attend the conference calls that the user does not attend;
performing a real time transcript of the conference calls in which the bot attends; and
providing the transcript to the corresponding user via one or more instant messages or one or more emails.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scheduling includes:
deciding, by the corresponding user, whether to temporarily join the conference calls that the bot attends.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
scheduling, by the computer, playing of the recording.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:
flexibly rescheduling, by the computer, the playing of the recording.

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:
examining, by the computer, the electronic calendar; and
determining, by the computer, whether the corresponding user can attend the one or more conference calls.

12. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:
giving a priority, by the computer, to a fixed reservation invite over the flexibly rescheduling; and
rescheduling, by the computer, the flexibly rescheduling to a next available open slot.

13. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically triggering, by the computer, an automatic event that initiates the recording.

14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the computer, what portions of the conference calls which the bot attends are to be recorded.

15. A system for managing a conference call, the conference call having associated therewith, for each participant on the conference call, an indicium displayed on a display mechanism, the system comprising:
a memory device; and
a processor connected to the memory device,
wherein the processor is configured to perform:
receiving invitations of one or more conference calls;
detecting a conflict between the one or more conference calls and electronic calendar entries;
displaying, for a corresponding user, each detected conflict;
receiving, from the corresponding user, a decision of which of the one or more conference calls the user will attend and which of the one or more conference calls are to be recorded without an attendance of the user when there exists the detected conflict;
in response to receiving the decision, recording, by a bot, a content of each of the conference calls that the user does not attend, wherein the bot has associated therewith an indicium displayed on the display mechanism and wherein the indicium of the bot is distinct from the indicium that would have been displayed had the user attended each of the conference calls; and
storing, in a storage device, the recorded content of the conference calls as one or more files;
identifying, by the computer, a free time in an electronic calendar to lock a time period for the user to listen to the recording.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein in order to record the one or more conference calls, the processor is configured to perform:
configuring the bot that represents the corresponding user to attend the conference calls that the user does not attend;
performing a real time transcript of the conference calls in which the bot attends; and
providing the transcript to the corresponding user via one or more instant messages or one or more emails.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
embedding the one or more files in a corresponding entry of the electronic calendar; or
making one or more links to the one or more files in the corresponding entry of the electronic calendar.

18. A computer program product for managing a conference call, the conference call having associated therewith, for each participant on the conference call, an indicium displayed on a display mechanism, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium excluding a propagating signal, the computer readable storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions run by the processing circuit for performing a method, said method steps comprising:
receiving, by the processing circuit, invitations of one or more conference calls;
detecting, by the processing circuit, a conflict between the one or more conference calls and electronic calendar entries;
displaying, for a corresponding user each detected conflict;
receiving, from a corresponding user, a decision of which of the one or more conference calls the user will attend and which of the one or more conference calls are to be recorded without an attendance of the user when there exists the detected conflict;
in response to receiving the decision, recording, by a bot operating on the processing circuit, a content of each of the conference calls that the user does not attend, wherein the bot has associated therewith an indicium displayed on the display mechanism and wherein the indicium of the bot is distinct from the indicium that would have been displayed had the user attended each of the conference calls; and
storing, in a storage device, the recorded content of the conference calls as one or more fil

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Boss Gregory J
• Jones Andrew R
• Mcconnell Kevin C
• Moore Jr John E

Classifications

• H04M3/56 Primary

  Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities (video conference systems H04N7/15) · CPC title

• H04M3/42221 Primary

  Conversation recording systems (at the subscriber's set H04M1/656) · CPC title

• H04M3/42365

  Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity · CPC title

• H04M3/565

  relating to time schedule aspects · CPC title