Claims
- 1. A method of real-time communication between a plurality of users each with respective communication devices having associated displays, the method comprising:
(a) providing each of the plurality of users with collaboration initiation software at their communication devices; (b) allowing at least first and second users to connect to at least one communication network by logging in at their respective communication devices; (c) maintaining service records for at least the first and second logged in users, the service records including user identification information and an associated location where each user is logged in; (d) causing display of a user identifier for at least the second user on the display of at least a first user's communication device; (e) allowing the first user to select the displayed second user's identifier; (f) retrieving necessary addressing information of the second user; and (g) establishing a connection between the first and second users, thereby enabling real-time communication including video images of at least one user and real-time text messages displayed on the display associated with at least one user.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the service records further include a location where each user is logged in no matter where they are located.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one communication device is a wireless device.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the communication network is a wide area network.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user identifier is in a personalized list.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the personalized list includes graphical icons representing a user.
- 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising indicating to a user whether another user is not logged in.
- 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising allowing the first user to:
(a) select a new user from among a plurality of potential users; and (b) add that new user to an existing communication.
- 9. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
(a) detecting an attempt by a third user to initiate a communication with the first user; (b) notifying the first user of the attempt; and (c) allowing the first user to establish a communication with the third user.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the attempt to initiate communications appears automatically on a user's display.
- 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising
(a) allowing the first user to send an e-mail to the second user.
- 12. A method of real-time communication between a plurality of users each with respective communication devices having associated displays, the method comprising:
(a) providing each of the plurality of users with collaboration initiation software at their communication devices at least one of which is a wireless device; (b) allowing at least first and second users to connect to at least one communication network by logging in at their respective communication devices; (c) maintaining service records for at least the first and second logged in users, the service records including user identification information and an associated location where each user is logged in no matter where they are located; (d) causing display of a user identifier for at least the second user on the display of at least a first user's communication device; (e) allowing the first user to select the displayed second user's identifier; (f) retrieving necessary addressing information of the second user; and (g) establishing a connection between the first and second users, thereby enabling real-time communication displayed on the display of the first and second users.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one communication device is a mobile phone.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the communication includes real-time text messages displayed on the displays associated with the first and second users.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein at least part of the communication network is a wide area network.
- 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user identifier is in a personalized list.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the personalized list includes graphical icons representing a user.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising indicating to a user whether another user is not logged in.
- 19. The method of claim 13, further comprising allowing the first user to:
(a) select a new user from among a plurality of potential users; and (b) add that new user to an existing communication.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting a user is done by clicking on an icon.
- 21. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
(a) detecting an attempt by a third user to initiate a communication with the first user; (b) notifying the first user of the attempt; and (c) allowing the first user to establish a communication with the third user.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the attempt to initiate communications appears automatically on a user's display.
- 23. The method of claim 18, further comprising
(a) allowing the first user to send an e-mail to the second user.
- 24. The method of claim 12, wherein the communications include video images of at least one user.
- 25. A method of real-time communication between a plurality of users each with respective communication devices having associated displays, the method comprising:
(a) providing each of the plurality of users with collaboration initiation software at their communication devices; (b) allowing at least first and second users to connect to at least one communication network by logging in at their respective communication devices; (c) maintaining service records for at least the first and second logged in users, the service records including user identification information and an associated location where each user is logged in no matter where they are located; (d) causing display of a user identifier in a personalized list for at least the second user on the display of at least a first user's communication device; (e) allowing the first user to select the displayed second user's identifier; (f) retrieving necessary addressing information of the second user; and (g) establishing a connection between the first and second users, thereby enabling real-time communication displayed on the display of the first and second users, wherein the real-time communication further includes video images of at least one user displayed on at least one other user's associated display.
- 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the communication includes real-time text messages displayed on the displays associated with the first and second users.
- 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the personalized list includes graphical representations of users and is scrollable.
- 28. The method of claim 26, further comprising indicating to a user whether another user is not logged in.
- 29. The method of claim 25, wherein the communication includes video images of at least two users.
- 30. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one communication device is a wireless device.
- 31. The method of claim 25, wherein at least part of the communication network is a wide area network.
- 32. The method of claim 27, further comprising allowing the first user to:
(a) select a new user from among a plurality of potential users; and (b) add that new user to an existing communication.
- 33. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
(a) detecting an attempt by a third user to initiate a communication with the first user; (b) notifying the first user of the attempt; and (c) allowing the first user to establish a communication with the third user.
- 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the attempt to initiate communications appears automatically on a user's display.
- 35. A method of real-time communication between a plurality of users each with respective communication devices having associated displays, the method comprising:
(a) providing each of the plurality of users with collaboration initiation software at their communication devices at least one of which is a wireless device; (b) allowing at least first and second users to connect to at least one communication network by logging in at their respective communication devices; (c) maintaining service records for at least the first and second logged in users, the service records including user identification information and an associated location where each user is logged in; (d) causing display of a user identifier in a personalized list for at least the second user on the display of at least a first user's communication device; (e) allowing the first user to select the displayed second user's identifier; (f) retrieving necessary addressing information of the second user; and (g) establishing a connection between the first and second users, thereby enabling real-time communication displayed on the display of the first and second users.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the communication includes real-time text messages displayed on the displays associated with the first and second users.
- 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the personalized list includes graphical icons representing a user.
- 38. The method of claim 37, further comprising indicating to a user whether another user is not logged in.
- 39. The method of claim 38, further comprising allowing the first user to:
(a) select a new user from among a plurality of potential users; and (b) add that new user to an existing communication.
- 40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:
(a) detecting an attempt by a third user to initiate a communication with the first user; (b) notifying the first user of the attempt; and (c) allowing the first user to establish a communication with the third user.
- 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the attempt to initiate communications appears automatically on a user's display.
- 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the communications include video images of at least one user.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/702,737 filed Nov. 1, 2000, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 08/994,848, filed Dec. 19, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,025, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/660,461, filed Jun. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,294, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/131,523, filed Oct. 1, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,641, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuations (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09702737 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
10721905 |
Nov 2003 |
US |
Parent |
08994848 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Child |
09702737 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Parent |
08660461 |
Jun 1996 |
US |
Child |
08994848 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08131523 |
Oct 1993 |
US |
Child |
08660461 |
Jun 1996 |
US |