Patent ID: 6016478
Filing Date: 2000-01-18
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
In a computerized scheduling system, a method for assisting a user with scheduling calendar events in an electronic calendar, the method comprising:(a) receiving input from the user specifying an event to schedule together with a lists of participants desired to participate in the event, at least some of said participants employing remote computer systems which are unable to interpret proprietary scheduling formats of the computerized scheduling system of the user;(b) in response to said input, generating an electronic scheduling invitation which invites the participants to the event, said scheduling invitation being encoded in a plurality of different message formats, each message format supporting a different level of information content, said plurality of different message formats selected from a group comprising at least a proprietary scheduling format, a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, and a simple electronic-mail format so that said scheduling invitation may be encoded for appropriate processing by disparate remote computer systems including those which are unable to interpret proprietary scheduling formats of the computerized scheduling system of the user;(c) sending said scheduling invitation to each participant;(d) upon receiving said scheduling invitation, generating an electronic scheduling reply by:(i) decoding the message format having the highest level of information content suitable for the computer system employed by said each participant,(ii) creating an electronic scheduling reply suitable for automatic processing by said computerized scheduling system of the user, said reply including a response indicating whether said each participant can participate in the event, and(iii) sending said scheduling reply to said user; and(e) upon receiving each participant's scheduling reply, automatically updating the calendar based on the response contained within the scheduling reply.