Patent Application
20210160290
The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method of performing a communication and collaboration session as well as a communication and collaboration system and a communication apparatus. The apparatus and system can be configured to implement an embodiment of the method.
Nowadays, telephone conferences or communication and collaboration sessions in which a plurality of users who are located at different places communicate via the Internet in real-time are rather common. However, many times, during such a session or at the end of a web collaboration meeting, a participant may decide that he or she would like to talk privately with another meeting member immediately after the session. For example, something might have been brought up during the session that a participant would like to discuss with another specific participant of the communication and collaboration session in a more casual talk and without the stressful situation that all other participants will be listening too hence, preventing the openness of the conversation.
Further, specifically at the end of such a meeting, usually the participants are busy saying goodbye to the other participants, so that it might be rather difficult to inform another participant on the wish to further discuss an issue of the session in a subsequent one-on-one call.
Thus, with respect to communication and collaboration systems known from prior art, we have identified a problem related to the continuing of a discussion of a communication and collaboration session in which a plurality of users have participated immediately after the session has terminated in a one-on-one call with a specifically selected specific user. No technical procedure is known for this situation, and thus, a user has to manually call back another participant of a communication session for a one-on-one talk after terminating the communication session manually. Also, usually the participants of a communication and collaboration session will rather decide to have a break after termination of the session so that a call to another participant for further discussion might be delayed, which in turn might cause that some items to be discussed might be forgotten at the later point of time when the one-on-one call eventually takes place after the break.
Therefore, we have determined that is a problem of facilitating an immediate subsequent one-on-one call between two specific participants of a communication and collaboration session with a plurality of participants. This problem can be solved by an embodiment of the inventive computer-implemented method of performing a communication and collaboration session with remotely located participants that we have developed. This problem can also be solved by implementation of an embodiment of a communication apparatus or a communication and collaboration system.
Accordingly, an embodiment of the computer-implemented method is provided according to the present invention, wherein a plurality of participants communicate with each other via a WebRTC communication and collaboration system comprising a communication server via which a plurality of clients used by the participants are connected to each other. The communication server can be a computer device having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g. memory). The server can have at least one interface for communicative connection to the clients. Each of the clients can be computer devices (e.g. smart phones, telephones, laptops, tablets, etc.) that have a processor that can run at least one application supported by the server that is stored in the memory of the computer device. The embodiment of the method can include the following steps:
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the notification sent by the first participant is displayed on a screen of the second participant's client in a pop-up window.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pop-up window can include a message concerning the follow-up conversation generated by the first participant or generated automatically.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the sending of the notification can be initiated by the first participant via clicking on a button provided on a screen of the first participant's client. In some embodiments, the clicking of the button can be provided by a user pressing a touch screen on which the button is displayed or using a pointer device to provide the clicking input.
According to still another preferred embodiment of the invention, the follow-up conversation can be initiated by the first participant clicking on an avatar of the second participant. In some embodiments, the clicking of the avatar can be provided by a user pressing a touch screen on which the avatar icon is displayed or using a pointer device to provide the clicking input for actuating the avatar or avatar icon displayed on a screen of the first participant's device.
Embodiments of the method can also include other steps. For instance, an embodiment of the method can include verifying whether the second participant is sharing his or her screen with the other participants of the communication and collaboration session.
According to still a further preferred embodiment of the invention, if it is determined that the second participant is sharing his or her screen with the other participants of the communication and collaboration session, then instead of displaying the notification sent by the first participant on the second participant's screen, a short message can be sent to the second participant's private conversation. The short message can be a relatively short text content of a notification to be displayed to the recipient when the recipient is notified of the requested follow-up one on one session. In other embodiments, the short message can be incorporated into a text message or an instant message that is sent to the client of the intended recipient.
In some embodiments, the communication and collaboration session may be a telephone conference.
In some embodiments, a predetermined time period at the end of the communication and collaboration session can be recorded and the recorded text can be transcribed so as to be presented as an agenda in the follow-up conversation. The server can record the audio of the session and subsequently transcribe it for the follow-up conversation in receipt to a request received from a client that seeks to initiate the formation of such a follow-up conversation. In some embodiments, the time at which the session is recorded can be a time that occurs after receipt of this request or can be a time that includes a pre-selected time period prior to receipt of the request in addition to the time following receipt of the request.
Further, according to the present invention, a real time communication (RTC) based communication and collaboration system can include a communication server on which an application is running which is configured to carry out an embodiment of the computer-implemented method of performing a communication and collaboration session. A communication apparatus that includes such a communication server is also provided.
It should be appreciated that embodiments of the innovation can be configured so that a follow-up call can be automatically established with a participant of a Web-based communication and collaboration session with a plurality of participants. The participant may easily be selected by another participant of the session and be informed about the intended follow-up one-on-one conversation. This can facilitate collaboration procedures a private conversation may be held for further discussing open issues or the like immediately after the termination of a telephone conference or the like in which a specific item or topic has been discussed and worked on.
Other details, objects, and advantages of the telecommunications apparatus method will become apparent as the following description of certain exemplary embodiments thereof proceeds.
The invention and embodiments thereof will be described below in further detail in connection with the drawings. It should be understood that like reference characters used in the drawings may identify like components.
Thus, in the following, exemplary options are described of how to trigger the notification and call-back function and of continuing a discussion of a web collaboration and communication session in a subsequent private meeting or call between two participants from a plurality of participants, respectively, is described.
According to a first exemplary option, a button 5 is provided on the screens of the display devices of the clients as an icon or button image of the user interface displayed on the screen 1. The client 2 is connected to a server (e.g. a media server, a teleconference server, a web-conference hosting server, etc.) on which the communication and collaboration application is running so that a first participant who participates in a multi-participant communication and collaboration session and who decides to further discuss a specific item of the session with a second participant of the session may simply actuate the button 5 displayed on the user interface shown on the screen 1 for triggering a notification to be sent to a second participant of the session that informs him or her that a subsequent one-on-one conversation is intended immediately after termination of the communication and collaboration session. The actuation of the button 5 can be provided by use of an input device (e.g. pointer device or touch screen) to actuate the button by selecting the button to actuate it and initiate sending of the request for the one-on-one communication session to the server to cause the server to have the notification communicated to the screen 1 of the intended recipient. As already described above, upon actuation of the button 5, a pop up window 4 (see
The first participant, namely, the requestor may have at least three options to choose from concerning the notification pop up window 4 comprising a notification message to be received by the selected second participant. These options can include:
I. Manually write a short message explaining why the conversation after the communication and collaboration session is requested and what will be discussed in the subsequent one-on-one call.
II. Use transcription methods that for example, add automatically, the last two minutes of the conference conversation so as to keep this as a sort of agenda for the subsequent one-on-one discussion that will follow the initial communication and collaboration session.
III. Add some automatically suggested ‘strong key words’ which will be captured by a web collaboration tool using transcription methods while writing the short message to the second participant to talk to in private in the subsequently held one-on-one session. Examples of such strong words could be: (1) “bug”, (2) “version problem” and in general words that are repeated most of the times in the conversation up to the point that a user chooses the option to send the notification. Upon termination of the initial multi-participant communication and collaboration session, an automatic call back may be generated between the requestor and the requested party so that the private conversation may start. The communication server hosting the multi-participant session can facilitate the automatic call back directly or by requesting the call-back be initiated by another communication server (e.g. a PBX or other communication server associated with clients of the users to be included in the one-on-one session).
However, if the selected second participant of the subsequent one-on-one meeting or call is a user who shares a screen 1 with the other participants of the communication and collaboration session, no notification pop up will be sent to his screen as this would reveal the identity of the subsequent one-on-one conversation requested to the other people included in the session. Instead, an automatic message will be posted in a private conversation between the requestor and the requestee with no notification pop up being sent. Such a private conversation can be provided by a text message or instant message exchanged between the clients of the requester and requestee. Also in this case, it should be appreciated that an automatic call back will be placed when the initial multi-participant communication and collaboration session is terminated.
According to a second option, a participant may be kept in a meeting or informed on a subsequent follow-up one-on-one call by touching an avatar 6 of the user. The avatar 6 of the user can be an icon or other graphic displayed on a user interface shown on the screen 1 that represents a particular user. When the one-on-one meeting requestor touches the avatar 6 of one of the participants at the end of the meeting (e.g. use of a touch screen interface to select the avatar 6 by touching the portion of the screen on which the avatar 6 is displayed, use of a pointer device to select the displayed avatar 6, etc.), the requestor can “force” him/her to stay in the conference call session for a few more minutes after the session is terminated so that issues can be discussed in a one-on-one session after the group session involving other users is terminated and those other users are dropped from the session. Actuation of the avatar 6 would generate a notification towards the other party that there is a request to stay in the meeting for some more time. However, the requestee would still be able to drop the call in case there is a need to immediately join a new conference or go to another meeting. Again, as already described above, upon touching the avatar, a pop up window 4 comprising the notification concerning the follow-up call with this participant will appear on the screen of his or her client. But, in this option, the follow-up call can be staying in the session after it is terminated instead of participating in a newly established one-on-one session.
According to a third option, the participant who has been selected by another participant during a communication and collaboration session for a follow-up one-on-one call right after the ongoing communication and collaboration session will be automatically called as soon as the multi-participant communication and collaboration session has terminated. At the time of terminating the conference when all of the participants are saying goodbyes to one another, as soon as the requestor asks another participant selected for a follow-up one-on-one call and in case this participant does not respond to this request, then, after the conference is over, a call back will be placed immediately and automatically.
Thus, summarizing the above, the method according to an embodiment of the invention will automatically call back the requestee when specific factors are met:
There will be a separate button 5 at the screen 1 of each participant having a particular label (e.g. a button 5 that is called “Auto ping participant”) that, when actuated during a conference, will send a notification to the requested party that a member of the conference wants to have a private conversation after the meeting. To ensure privacy of the notification and somehow protect both the requestor and the requested parties from other conference participants looking at this request when screen sharing is involved there can be be no pop up notification 4 and only a short message in the requested party's private conversation with the requestor (see
At the end of the conference call when participants have started leaving the meeting, the opportunity may be provided to each participant of the communication and collaboration session to touch the avatar of a participant selected for a follow-up call, and make him stay for a little longer. By the time the avatar 6 of a selected participant is touched, then automatically a notification will pop up in a pop-up window 4 on the screen 3 of this participant's client that another participant requires him/her to stay for a few more minutes. There will, of course, be the possibility for this participant to leave the conference by pressing once more the hang up button upon reception of the notification/During the communication and collaboration session, the application running on the server may capture phrases like: “<participant's name> can you stay a little longer on the call?”, “<participant's name> do you have five more minutes?” and using the participant's name variable if the participant has left the call upon these requests because he/she was not able to hear them then it will automatically call him/her back.
It is noted that in general, the method described above can enable an enhanced collaboration between parties, especially when they are not located at the same geographical location (e.g. are remotely located at separate buildings or facilitates in different locations). It can facilitate and improve the communication and collaboration since topics that might be forgotten if a user was not responding to a request for an immediate follow-up discussion are now going to be addressed in a more efficient manner.
It should be understood that the server hosting the communication and collaboration session and participant devices facilitating their involvement in such a session are communication devices. These devices are machines that include hardware. The server can be a computer device having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g. memory) that has an application stored thereon that is executed by the processor to facilitate the hosting of the session and facilitating the use of button 5 or avatar 6 and the related notifications for requesting and subsequently facilitating the follow-up one-on-one communication session. The participant devices can also be computer devices (e.g. smart phones, laptop computers, etc.) that have a processor connected to a non-transitory memory. The participant devices can be configured to communicatively connect to the server to utilize the session hosted by the server. Each of these devices can include at least one interface for a network connection to facilitate utilization of the session hosted by the server, for example.
As it is obvious from the procedure described above, privacy considerations with this methodology can be avoided as the methodology can be implemented so that no personal data is exposed to other users or participants. In any case, the one-on-one follow-up conversation feature can also be configurable per user and will only be activated once the user gives his/her permission.
It should be appreciated that different embodiments of the method, system, and apparatus can be developed to meet different sets of design criteria. For example, the particular type of network connection, server configuration or client configuration for use in embodiments of the method can be adapted to account for different sets of design criteria. As yet another example, it is contemplated that a particular feature described, either individually or as part of an embodiment, can be combined with other individually described features, or parts of other embodiments. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described herein can therefore be combined to provide further embodiments. Thus, while certain exemplary embodiments of a network, a server that can host a communication and collaboration session, a telecommunications apparatus and methods of making and using the same have been shown and described above, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.
