Patent ID: 8887069
Filing Date: 2014-11-11
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: creating, by a virtual meeting computer, a first meeting, wherein the first meeting is associated with a user interface, a plurality of participants each associated with a participant type, and a plurality of participant areas, wherein the plurality of participant areas comprise an active participant area comprising active participants, a passive participant area comprising passive participants, and an OTM participant area comprising on-the-microphone (OTM) participants, and wherein the plurality of participant areas are stored in a database; assigning, by the virtual meeting computer, a first participant type to a first participant of a plurality of first participants, wherein the first participant type is an active participant that engages in a discussion in the active participant area of the first meeting, and wherein input from the active participant is accessible by the first participant type and a second participant type; receiving, by the virtual meeting computer using a communication protocol, a first attendance request from a second participant to join the first meeting; assigning, by the virtual meeting computer, the second participant type to the second participant, wherein the second participant type is a passive participant that listens to the discussion in the passive participant area of the first meeting, and wherein the passive participant cannot directly enter input into the discussion; presenting, by the virtual meeting computer using the communication protocol, the user interface to the plurality of participants, wherein the user interface comprises the plurality of participant areas, each of the plurality of participant areas associated with at least one of an area role or an area permission; receiving, by the virtual meeting computer and from the second participant using the communication protocol, a queue request to be placed in a queue for offering input; providing, by the virtual meeting computer and to the second participant using the communication protocol, an indication of at least one of an estimated wait time or a position within the queue; determining, by the virtual meeting computer, that a predetermined number of OTM participants has not been exceeded; converting, by the virtual meeting computer, the second participant from the queue to the OTM participant in the first meeting for a limited period of time; allowing, by the virtual meeting computer using the communication protocol, the OTM participant to provide input and interact, with a plurality of the first participants for a limited period of time; promoting, by the virtual meeting computer, the OTM participant to an active participant type, based on volume of input and quality of input; displaying, by the virtual meeting computer and on the user interface using the communication protocol, the active participants in the active participant area, the passive participants in the passive participant area and the OTM participants in the OTM participant area; receiving, by the virtual meeting computer using the communication protocol, a request from the first participant to exclude a third participant from the first meeting, wherein the request includes the first participant requesting a vote from the plurality of first participants to exclude the third participant from the first meeting; prompting, by the virtual meeting computer using the communication protocol, the plurality of first participants to provide the votes whether the third participant should be excluded from the first meeting; determining, by the virtual meeting computer and based upon the votes received from the first participants, that the third participant be excluded from the first meeting; excluding, by the virtual meeting computer, the third participant from the first meeting; receiving, by the virtual meeting computer, a scan request via a scan control of the user interface, wherein the scan request includes a request to search for a subset of meetings related to a first topic and a meeting within the subset of meetings where certain multiple participants exist, including where the first participant is an active participant, and where the OTM participant is currently a quasi-active participant; iterating, by the virtual meeting computer and based upon the scan request, through a plurality of active meetings, wherein the iterating comprises providing first audio data associated with the first meeting to a user device of the user for a predetermined period of time and, in response to the first predetermined period of time expiring, providing second audio data associated with a second meeting to the user device of the user for the predetermined period of time; receiving, by the virtual meeting computer using the communication protocol and from at least one of the first participant or the second participant, a new discussion request to create a new discussion with similar parameters as the discussion in the first meeting, wherein the similar parameters are stored in the database; and creating, by the virtual meeting computer, the new discussion in a second meeting.