Methods and systems for selectively sharing content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9602670-B2
Application number	US-91608210-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2010
Priority date	Oct 29, 2010
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

A method for sharing content with participants in a conference including establishing a network conference session, identifying restricted content to be shared, and identifying global content which is a subset of the restricted content. The method further includes the steps of identifying a global participant group for the network conference session wherein members of the global participant group attend the network conference session using one or more communication devices, identifying a restricted participant group for the network conference session wherein members of the restricted participant group attend the network conference session using one or more communication devices, transmitting the restricted content to the restricted participant group, and transmitting the global content to the global participant group.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of sharing content with participants in a network conference session, the method comprising:
establishing a network conference session;
during the network conference session:
receiving conference content currently being displayed in an application window to a presenter of the network conference session, wherein the conference content includes speaking notes currently being displayed to the presenter;
transmitting restricted content, comprising a subset of the conference content that does not include the speaking notes, to a restricted participant group for display to the restricted participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter; and
transmitting global content, comprising a subset of the restricted content, to a global participant group for display to the global participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the restricted content comprises audio information.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising selectively muting the audio information, resulting in muted audio.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the muted audio corresponds to content not included in the global content.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising members of the global participant group and members of the restricted participant group receiving different invitations to the network conference session.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising assigning each of the participants an identifier indicating membership in either the global participant group or the restricted participant group.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling members of the global participant group to amend the global content and enabling members of the restricted participant group to amend the restricted content.

8. A network conferencing server for sharing content with participants, the network conferencing server comprising:
a processor configured to establish a network conference session;
an application configured to:
during the network conference session, receive conference content currently being displayed in an application window to a presenter of the network conference session, wherein the conference content includes speaking notes currently being displayed to the presenter;

a communication interface configured to:
during the network conference session, transmit restricted content, comprising a subset of the conference content that does not include the speaking notes, to a restricted participant group for display to the restricted participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter and transmit global content, comprising a subset of the restricted content, to a global participant group for display to the global participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter.

9. The network conferencing server of claim 8 wherein the restricted content comprises visual information presented on a display device.

10. The network conferencing server of claim 8 wherein the restricted content comprises audio information.

11. The network conferencing server of claim 10 wherein the audio information is selectively muted, resulting in muted audio.

12. The network conferencing server of claim 11 wherein the muted audio corresponds to content not included in the global content.

13. The network conferencing server of claim 8 wherein members of the global participant group and members of the restricted participant group receive different invitations to the network conference session.

14. The network conferencing server of claim 8 wherein members of the global participant group are enabled to amend the global content and members of the restricted participant group are enabled to amend the restricted content.

15. A software product for conducting a network conference session for participants, the software product comprising:
software operational when executed by a processor to direct the processor to establish a network conference session, during the network conference session, receiving conference content currently being displayed in an application window to a presenter of the network conference session, wherein the conference content includes speaking notes currently being displayed to the presenter, and to direct a communication interface to transmit restricted content, comprising a subset of the conference content that does not include the speaking notes, to a restricted participant group for display to the restricted participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter and transmit global content, comprising a subset of the restricted content, to a global participant group for display to the global participant group contemporaneously with the conference content currently being displayed to the presenter; and
a non-transitory storage medium configured to store the software.

16. The software product of claim 15 wherein the restricted content comprises visual information presented on a display device.

17. The software product of claim 15 wherein the restricted content comprises audio information.

18. The software product of claim 17 wherein the audio information is selectively muted, resulting in muted audio.

19. The software product of claim 18 wherein the muted audio corresponds to content not included in the global content.

20. The software product of claim 15 wherein members of the global participant group and members of the restricted participant group receive different invitations to the network conference session.

21. The software product of claim 15 wherein members of the global participant group are enabled to amend the global content and members of the restricted participant group are enabled to amend the restricted content.

Assignees

• Balasaygun Mehmet C
• Yoakum John H
• Avaya Inc

Inventors

• Balasaygun Mehmet C
• Yoakum John H

Classifications

• 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

• H04L12/1818

  Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties · CPC title

• H04N7/15

  Conference systems · CPC title

• G06Q10/10

  Office automation; Time management · CPC title

• H04M3/567 Primary

  Multimedia conference systems · CPC title