Patent Application
20070208806
This invention is directed, generally, to the field of collaboration software systems for use on a digital network and, more specifically, to voice communications on such systems.
With the rise of networked computing systems, particularly in business settings, new tools have emerged that allow network users, or clients, to interact with one another in various ways. Email, for example is a ubiquitous communication means which allows text messages to be communicated selectively over a network. Similarly, instant messaging and text-based “chats” have proven popular tools for communicating textual information between network clients. More recently, audio communication has been used over digital networks, the best-known format being the “voice-over-internet protocol” (VOIP). Even video conferencing has been used over digital networks, to varying degrees of success.
Collaboration software, sometimes referred to as “groupware” is designed to allow multiple network users to work on a single project together from separate workstations. One version of such software is “NOTES” which is a registered trademark and product of Lotus Development Corporation, Cambridge, Mass. Another is “NETMEETING” which is a registered trademark and product of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. The goal of these products is to allow conferencing between multiple network clients, and collaboration among those clients in which they interact to manipulate a target such as a document or “whiteboard.” However, while improvements have been made in these products, there are areas in which the ability of users to communicate or collaborate may be improved.
In accordance with the present invention a network collaboration system is provided that facilitates interaction between network clients having access to a digital network. The system makes use of an audio communications tool that accepts inputs from each of the network clients, and provides audio outputs to network clients that are made up of a mix of the audio inputs. A network interface is also provided that allows the network clients to participate in a collaboration in which certain collaborating clients are connected using the audio communications tool. That is, audio inputs from the participants are mixed together and delivered to the participants as audio outputs. This allows for voice conferences to be held between the participants represented by the network clients.
The system also includes a grouping feature by which participants in a collaboration are segregated into a plurality of groups. A first group of the clients are in audio communication with each other in a primary audio forum. This primary forum may be viewed as the “main meeting” via which the desired collaboration takes place. It may, however, be desirable to temporarily exclude certain participants from the primary forum due, for example, to the exchange of sensitive information. This second group of participants are therefore sequestered in a virtual space, which may be thought of as a “waiting room,” and receive no audio inputs from participants in the first group. An access tool may then be used by at least one participant in the first group to identify the participants in each of the first and second groups and to selectively grant access to any designated participants of the second group that allows the designated participants to join the first group.
The network interface may include a meeting creation tool that allows a network client to create a virtual meeting space by which the participants to a collaboration are selected. Each of the participants has a set of access privileges, and those access privileges may be set by the network client that creates the virtual meeting space. The meeting creator may also grant privileges to one or more other participants that allow them to change the privileges of other participants. The access privileges may be used to establish the ability of a participant to join the first group. The access privileges may also be used to establish the ability of a participant to grant access to participants of the second group that allows them to join the first group. This might be viewed as the ability to “invite” second group participants to join the main meeting in the first group. The system may also include an “exit” function that allows participants of the first group to exit the first group and join the second group. The ability of such a participant to rejoin the first group after exiting it depends on the access privileges of that participant. A “visit” function may also be included that allows any participant of the first group to temporarily join the second group and return to the first group regardless of that participant's access privileges.
The above and further advantages of the invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention may be used with a collaboration tool that operates around a general backbone architecture that allows various access points and functionality. Shown in
The collaboration tool provides a number of unique functions that simplify and enhance distributed meetings, making them more effective. Several different software components work in concert to provide this functionality, and the illustration of
A collaboration server 44 manages the collaboration functions for each of the meetings making use of the collaboration tools at a given time. For each of these meetings, a collaboration space 46 is established, within which data sharing is provided in different formats (for clarity, only one collaboration space is shown graphically in
The collaboration tool is preferably based on a graphical user interface (GUI) application accessible by a user of the collaboration tool. The interface makes use of controls and information placed in different windows so as to provide an intuitive look and feel for manipulating the conditions for a particular user. Upon launching the application, and optionally logging in via a login control window, the application presents a “central console” window 58, as shown in
From the console window, it is also possible to create a new meeting. Selecting “create meeting” from the “file” menu brings up a “create meeting” window 49, as shown in
The access privileges of other users are established by creating “permissions” for each of the users named by the owner. To the right of the “meeting style” radio buttons is a list of “groups.” Depending on the meeting style selected, different groups will be available. There are several different default groups available. “Owners” include the person who created the meeting room, and other owners may be added to the list. These users are granted all possible permissions to the meeting room, including direct access and the ability to delete the meeting room. “Full access” users have all permissions except for the ability to delete the meeting room. Users with “Waiting Room” access are placed into a waiting room when they join the meeting, and may be invited into the main meeting by someone with full access. “Others” refers to everyone whose name is not specified in any of the other groups. These users have the most restricted permissions and, in restricted meetings, others can only join the conference via the waiting room. In Closed meetings, Others have no permissions and may not join the meeting.
For each of the groups specified, the owner of the meeting enters the identifiers of the users to whom the permissions of that particular group are being extended in the “members” box 57. Once all of the users and their permissions are established, the meeting is created by clicking the “create meeting” button 59. The users and permissions may be modified later by any of the meeting owners by editing the meeting properties using a selection from the “edit” menu of the console window. Once the meeting room is created, other users will see the meeting listed in their console windows, and may join (if they have been granted the proper access).
When a user joins a meeting, the application launches a facilitator window 64, an example of which is shown in
To indicate which of the participants is speaking at any given time, a speaking indicator 68 appears next to a person's name when the amount of sound on that person's channel is above a given threshold for a given duration. In one embodiment, the darkness with which the speaking indicator is displayed may increase with the time and intensity of the audio detected on that channel, while fading gradually during subsequent periods of quiet. A mute button 72 may also be clicked by a user to mute his or her channel. This helps to minimize extraneous noise being introduced to the meeting over channels of participants who are not speaking for a certain period of time. When a user mutes his or her channel, brackets appear around the name of that person in the facilitator window of all the participants, allowing all to see that that person's audio is muted.
Any participant may speak and be heard at any time, but it may be desirable to implement a policy of requesting that only one participant speak at a time. To aid this, a “hand raise” button 74 is provided. When a person other than the current speaker would like an opportunity to say something, the hand raise button 74 may be clicked on that person's facilitator window. The result is the placement of a numbered icon 76 in the facilitator display of all the meeting participants, as shown in
Another problem that can be addressed non-verbally using the facilitator window is difficulty with the audio on another user's channel. The other user may be speaking too softly or too loudly, or may have background noise or a technical malfunction that makes it difficult or impossible to hear him or her. An audio button 78 is provided on the facilitator window that can be clicked by a user to indicate trouble with the audio channel of another participant. Clicking this button brings up a drop-down menu (not shown). This menu allows the user to select the speaker whose audio is poor, as well as choose from several options that describe the problem.
A voting button 80 on the facilitator allows anyone in the meeting to call for a vote. When the voting button is clicked by a user, two voting arrow buttons 82, 84 are enabled on the facilitator of each participant. The user calling for the vote verbally explains the basis of the vote, and what the selection of the up or down arrow means in the voting process. For example, the current speaker might suggest that the users click the up arrow 82 if they have finished reading a written item being discussed, or to click the down arrow 84 to indicate that more time is needed. Similarly, a vote might be to use the up arrow 82 to agree with a proposed idea, or the down arrow 84 if one disagrees. As shown in
Also on the facilitator is a private text chat button 86, shown most clearly in
While in a meeting, it is also possible to have a private voice chat with one or more meeting participants without the other participants hearing the voice chat conversation. To initiate a voice chat, one or more names in the facilitator window 64 are highlighted, and the voice chat button 88 (shown most clearly in
Another feature of the collaboration tool is the ability to invite certain participants to a meeting while providing a way to exclude them from certain portions of the meeting conversation. In the context of the present invention, this feature is referred to as a “waiting room” because it takes the form of a virtual location in which the designated invitees are sequestered while those controlling the meeting determine the appropriate time at which to invite these potential participants to join the meeting.
A waiting room is designed to be used in conjunction with a restricted or closed meeting. The purpose of the waiting room is to prevent people without full access privileges from joining the meeting directly. This is useful when confidential content is being discussed. As newcomers with restricted access join the meeting, they will be placed in the waiting room and will not be able to hear the discussion proceeding in the main meeting. They may, however, be able to communicate with other participants in the waiting room.
In the exemplary embodiment, as soon as a user enters the waiting room, a waiting room window 65 opens next to the facilitator window on the displays of each of the meeting participants. An example of this is shown in
In the example shown in
Any participant in the main meeting can also move themselves into the waiting room, perhaps at the request of the meeting leader. To do this, a user selects, from the “Meeting” menu on the facilitator, the “exit to waiting room” command. Unlike visiting, once a user moves into the waiting room, his or her ability to rejoin the main meeting depends on that person's access privileges. If he or she has restricted access, the main meeting may be rejoined only at the invitation of someone with full privileges. Buttons 67 and 69 are disabled for a user with restricted privileges. If a user with full privileges exits to the waiting room, he or she may rejoin the meeting at any time by inviting himself or herself. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, even if a meeting is not restricted, the waiting room may be used for break-out discussions.”
In the present example, a user can hide the waiting room window on his or her display by selecting the “hide waiting room” command from the “View” menu. The “X” in the upper right corner of the waiting room window may also be selected to close it. The waiting room will automatically appear whenever a user enters it, but one can show it manually at any time by selecting the “show waiting room” command from the “View” menu.
As shown in
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
