Patent Publication Number: US-2023136777-A1

Title: Communication channel into a conference session of a subsequent meeting when a current meeting overruns

Description:
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND 
     Communications between people in the modern world increasingly occurs over remote meetings. Rather than two or more people meeting in person, a conference session can be established between their computing devices to allow the people to talk to, and even see, one another in real-time. Given that an individual can attend multiple remote meetings from the same physical location (e.g., rather than having to move meeting rooms), the individual&#39;s meetings can be scheduled one right after another. However, the remote aspect of a meeting does not prevent the meeting from running long. Thus, it is still entirely possible for a meeting participant to not be present in a subsequent meeting due to a previous meeting running long. Other participants in the subsequent meeting may then be left unaware of a reason for the meeting participant&#39;s absence or how long it might be until the participant arrives. 
     SUMMARY 
     The technology disclosed herein enables establishment of a communication channel into a subsequent conference session upon determining that a current meeting will overrun. In a particular embodiment, a method includes, during a first meeting, determining a participant in the first meeting that is scheduled to participate in a second meeting following the first meeting. The participant operates a participant endpoint to participate in the first meeting over a first conference session established between the participant endpoint and other participant endpoints. The method also includes performing an overrun check. The overrun check results in an overrun determination that the first meeting is going to extend beyond a scheduled start time of the second meeting. In response to the overrun determination, the method includes establishing a communication channel between the participant endpoint and a second conference session for the second meeting while the participant endpoint remains on the first conference session. The method further includes transmitting information from the participant over the communication channel to the second conference session. 
     In some examples, in response to reaching a threshold amount of time prior to a scheduled end time of the first meeting, the method includes prompting the participant about whether the overrun check should be performed. In response to prompting the participant, the method includes receiving an instruction to perform the overrun check. 
     In some examples, the method includes determining whether core participants for the second meeting are available for the second meeting and, in response to determining that there are one or more unavailable participants of the core participants, notifying the participant about the unavailable participants. In those examples, in response to determining that there are one or more unavailable participants of the core participants, the method may include canceling the second meeting. 
     In some examples, in response to the overrun determination, the method includes presenting a status of the second meeting to the participant. 
     In some examples, in response to the overrun determination, the method includes presenting an estimated overrun time to the participant, wherein the information includes the estimated overrun time. 
     In some examples, the communication channel comprises a text chat channel and wherein the information comprises text entered by the participant into the participant endpoint. 
     In some examples, an interface for the communication channel is presented by a client application executing on the participant endpoint to connect the participant endpoint to the first conference session. In those examples, the interface may present an estimated overrun time and wherein the information includes the estimated overrun time. 
     In some examples, the information is presented to one or more participants via the second conference session. 
     In another embodiment, an apparatus is provided having one or more computer readable storage media and a processing system operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media. Program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to, during a first meeting, determine a participant in the first meeting that is scheduled to participate in a second meeting following the first meeting. The participant operates a participant endpoint to participate in the first meeting over a first conference session established between the participant endpoint and other participant endpoints. The program instructions also direct the processing system to perform an overrun check. The overrun check results in an overrun determination that the first meeting is going to extend beyond a scheduled start time of the second meeting. In response to the overrun determination, the program instructions direct the processing system to establish a communication channel between the participant endpoint and a second conference session for the second meeting while the participant endpoint remains on the first conference session. The program instructions further direct the processing system to transmit information from the participant over the communication channel to the second conference session. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an implementation for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates an operation to establish a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an operational scenario for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates an implementation for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates an operational scenario for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  6    illustrates another operational scenario for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a display system for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a display system for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
         FIG.  9    illustrates a computing architecture for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The conference systems described herein establish communication channels into conference sessions of subsequent meetings to allow absent participants to communicate with participants who have already joined the subsequent meeting. In particular, a conference system determines that a current meeting, being held over a current conference session, is going to overrun its scheduled end time. For one or more participants in the current meeting that are scheduled to attend a subsequent meeting, the conference system establishes a communication channel from the current conference session into a conference session of the subsequent meeting. Information can be provided to participants in the subsequent conference session over the communication channel. The information may simply indicate that one or more participants are absent because they are in a previous meeting that has, or will, overrun its scheduled end time, may provide an estimate for when the participants will be able to join the subsequent meeting, or may provide some other information that may be relevant to the participants of the subsequent meeting. Regardless of what the information includes, the subsequent meeting participants need not look outside of their interface into the subsequent conference session for the information (e.g., need not check their email for information from the absent participants). Similarly, the participants on the current meeting need not look outside of their interface into the current conference session to provide the information (e.g., need not draft an email to the participants of the subsequent meeting). 
       FIG.  1    illustrates implementation  100  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Implementation  100  includes conference system  101 , endpoint  102 , endpoint  103 , and endpoint  104 . Participant  122  operates endpoint  102 , participant  123  operates endpoint  103 , and participant  124  operates endpoint  104 . Conference system  101  and endpoint  102  communication over communication link  111 . Conference system  101  and endpoint  103  communicate over communication link  112 . Conference system  101  and endpoint  104  communicate over communication link  113 . Communication links  111 - 112  are shown as direct links but may include intervening systems, networks, and/or devices. 
     In operation, endpoints  102 - 104  may each respectively be a telephone, tablet computer, laptop computer, desktop computer, conference room system, or some other type of computing device capable of connecting to a conference session facilitated by conference system  101 . Conference system  101  facilitates conference sessions between two or more endpoints, such as endpoints  102 - 104 . While shown as a single device, conference system  101  may be distributed across multiple devices. A conference session may be audio only (e.g., a voice call) or may also include a video component (e.g., a video call), a graphic component (e.g., presentation slides, screen sharing, etc.), text chat component, and/or some other type of real-time communication. For example, during a conference session between endpoints  102 - 104 , participants  122 - 124  are able to speak with, or to, one another by way of their respective endpoints  102 - 104  capturing their voices and transferring the voices over the conference session. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates operation  200  to establish a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Conference system  101  performs operation  200  to establish the communication channel during a current conference session that is currently established between endpoint  102  and one or more other endpoints (which may include at least one of endpoint  103  and endpoint  104 ). The current conference session allows participant  122  to communicate with other participant(s), operating the other endpoint(s), in a current meeting that is held over the current conference session. During the current meeting, conference system  101  determines that participant  122  is scheduled to participate in a second meeting following the current meeting ( 201 ). Conference system  101  may maintain a record of all conference sessions scheduled to be facilitated by conference system  101  and a list of participants for each of the conference sessions. Conference system  101  may then identify within that record that participant  122  is scheduled to participate in a meeting following the current meeting. Alternatively, conference system  101  may have access to an electronic calendar of participant  122  that includes an entry for the second meeting that indicates a second conference session facilitated by conference system  101  will be used for the second meeting (e.g., may include a link to conference system  101 , dial-in information for conference system  101 , or some other information indicative of a second conference session). Other manners of determining that participant  122  is scheduled in the second meeting may also be used. 
     Conference system  101  also performs an overrun check on the current meeting ( 202 ). The overrun check may be performed when the current meeting reaches a predefined amount of time before its scheduled end time. The overrun check may only be performed if a participant in the current meeting has a subsequent meeting scheduled that could possibly be affected by the current meeting exceeding its scheduled end time. The overrun check determines whether the current meeting is going to extend beyond its scheduled end time. In this example, the overrun check results in an overrun determination that the current meeting is going to extend beyond a scheduled start time of the second meeting. Conference system  101  may determine that the current meeting is going to overrun by querying a participant in the current meeting (e.g., asking for an amount of time remaining in the meeting) or may estimate the amount of time remaining in the current meeting from information available to conference system  101 . The information may include materials being used in the present meeting (e.g., presentation slides, agendas, documents, etc.), present context of the current meeting from processing speech of the participants (e.g., to determine based on the words being spoken how far along the participants are in the meeting agenda), historical tendencies of participants to overrun, or some other type of information that may be indicative of whether a meeting is going to overrun—including combinations thereof. In an example, conference system  101  may determine a number of slides remaining in a presentation being presented over the current communication session for the current meeting and estimate how long it will take to get through the remaining slides (e.g., based on an average amount of time spent on each slide already covered in the presentation). In another example, conference system  101  may determine that past meetings of the moderating participant of the current meeting overrun by an average of ten minutes. That fact alone may indicate to conference system  101  that the current meeting is going to overrun or conference system  101  may use additional items of information to determine a final overrun estimate (e.g., even though the average is ten minutes, conference system  101  may determine that there is too much left on the meeting agenda for the current meeting to finish within the ten minutes). 
     In response to the overrun determination, conference system  101  establishes a communication channel between endpoint  102  and a second conference session for the second meeting while endpoint  102  remains on the current conference session for the current meeting ( 203 ). Had conference system  101  determined that the current meeting would not overrun, then conference system  101  would not establish a communication channel. The communication channel may be voice, video, text, or some other mode of conveying information between endpoints and may use any protocol supported by conference system  101 . Endpoint  102  may present the communication channel to participant  122  in an interface for the current communication session that is already being presented by endpoint  102 . For example, a new window (or other type of display section) to access the communication channel may pop up in a conference client application executing on endpoint  102  to connect to conference sessions facilitated by conference system  101 . In this example, endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  are connected to the second conference session when the communication channel is established. Although, in other examples, no endpoint may have yet joined the second conference session when the communication channel is established (i.e., the communication channel may be open so that it is ready to convey information, or already conveyed information will be waiting, when an endpoint does connect to the second conference session). 
     An interface to the communication channel is also presented at endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  (or will be once each endpoint joins the second conference session if they have not already). The interface may be similar to that presented to endpoint  102  (e.g., may be a popup window of a conference client application) may be presented for the communication channel at endpoint  103  and endpoint  104 . In some examples, conference system  101  may bridge the communication channel into a second communication channel of the second conference session. In those examples, information transmitted over the communication channel from endpoint  102  may be received and presented by endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  in the interface to the second communication channel. For example, the second conference session may include a chat channel that supplements voice/video communications being exchanged between participants. Information received over the communication channel from endpoint  102  may be presented in the interface to that chat channel, rather than a separate interface element (e.g., text from participant  122  may display in the chat feed even though participant  122  has not joined the second communication session). 
     After establishment of the communication channel, conference system  101  transmits information received from participant  122  over the communication channel to the second conference session ( 204 ). The information may be input by participant  122  into endpoint  102  (e.g., typed, spoken, etc.), may be suggested to participant  122  via endpoint  102  by conference system  101  (e.g., may include a suggested time in which they will be delayed by the overrun), or may include some other type of information that participant  122  may wish to convey over the communication channel to participants in the second conference session. The information is presented to participant  123  and participant  124  by their respective endpoints  103  and  104  upon receipt or when each endpoint connected to the second communication session. Effectively, the information is broadcast to anyone participating in the second meeting through an endpoint to the second communication session. Participant  123  and participant  124 , along with any other participants in the second meeting, are made aware of the information without having to resort to other mechanisms of communication outside of the conference session (e.g., email, instant messaging, etc.). In some examples, if more than just participant  122  are on the current meeting and scheduled for the second meeting, then the endpoints of those additional participants may also be connected to the communication channel. Thus, any one of the participants may provide information for transmission into the second conference session via the communication channel. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates operational scenario  300  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Operational scenario  300  is an example of what may be performed at endpoint  102  and conference system  101  when conference system  101  is performing operation  200 . In operational scenario  300 , endpoint  102  joins a first conference session for a first meeting at step  1 . The first conference session is facilitated by conference system  101  between endpoint  102  and one or more other endpoints that are not shown. Participant  122  participates in the first meeting with participants at the one or more other endpoints over the first conference session. While endpoint  102  is on the first conference session, conference system  101  determines at step  2  that a threshold amount of time (e.g., five minutes) before the scheduled end time of the first meeting has been reached. In response to the threshold being reached, conference system  101  transmits query  301  to endpoint  102  at step  3 . In this example, query  301  is transmitted to endpoint  102  because conference system  101  has determined that participant  122  has a second meeting scheduled shortly (e.g., within a threshold amount of time) after the first meeting was scheduled to end. Query  301  asks participant  122  about whether they want an overrun check to be performed on the first meeting. In some examples, query  301  may also ask participant  122  about how much time they believe the first meeting is going to overrun, the answer to which may be used when conference system  101  makes the overrun determination. Query  301  may be transmitted in a messaging protocol compatible with a client application executed by endpoint  102  to connect to conference system  101  and the first conference session (e.g., Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)). Other types of messaging protocols may also be used. 
     Upon receipt of query  301 , endpoint  102  displays query  301  at step  4  to participant  122 . Query  301  may be presented using a dedicated user interface element (e.g., window) or may be presented within an element already enabled as part of the first conference session. For example, the first conference session may include a chat channel with an interface thereto. Query  301  may be presented in that chat channel interface (e.g., as a message indicated to be from conference system  101  rather than from another participant in the first meeting). 
     Regardless of how query  301  is presented, endpoint  102  provides an interface into which participant  122  can respond to query  301 . Endpoint  102  receives proceed instruction  302  at step  5  via that interface. For example, if query  301  is presented in a popup window, the popup window may include a button for participant  122  to indicate that they want conference system  101  to proceed with the overrun check and another button for participant  122  to indicate that they do not want conference system  101  to proceed with the overrun check. Alternatively, if query  301  is presented in a chat interface of the first meeting, participant  122  may input proceed instruction  302  into a text entry box for the chat interface (e.g., may type “yes” in response to being asked whether the overrun check should be performed). 
     Proceed instruction  302  is transmitted to conference system  101  after receipt from participant  122  and conference system  101  performs an overrun check to determine overrun time  303  at step  6  in response to proceed instruction  302 . Proceed instruction  302  may be transmitted to conference system  101  in the same protocol in which query  301  was transmitted to endpoint  102 . Conference system  101  determines overrun time  303  in a manner similar to that discussed above with respect to operation  200 . Once overrun time  303  has been determined, conference system  101  presents overrun time  303  to participant  122  at step  7  by transmitting overrun time  303  to endpoint  102 , which displays overrun time  303  at step  8 . Query  301  may be transmitted in a message similar to query  301  and proceed instruction  302 . Query  301  may likewise be displayed in the same interface (e.g., window or chat channel) in which endpoint  102  displayed query  301 . 
     In addition to presenting overrun time  303  to participant  122 , conference system  101  establishes a communication channel act step  9  into a second conference session over which participants in the second meeting will communicate. The communication channel enables participant  122  to share information with participants with endpoints joined to the second conference session even though endpoint  102  has not yet joined the second conference session and is still joined to the first conference session. Endpoint  102  receives information  304  from participant  122  at step  10  for transmission over the communication channel. In this example, the interface used to display overrun time  303  to participant  122  also prompts participant  122  to enter information  304  for transmission over the communication channel (e.g., provides a text entry box for a text message). In a basic example, participant  122  may simply indicate that overrun time  303  should be included in information  304  and shared with participants on the second conference session. In some examples, participant  122  may be able to adjust overrun time  303  before overrun time  303  is sent and/or provide a message to the participants in the second meeting (e.g., tell the other participants that they get started without participant  122 ). Once information  304  is received, endpoint  102  transmits information  304  at step  11  to conference system  101 , which transmits information  304  into the second conference session at step  12 . 
     By transmitting information  304  into the second conference session, endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  receive information  304  and present information  304  to participants  123  and  124  when endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  connect to the second conference session (if they are not connected already). Since the communication channel is a channel into the second conference session, information  304  is presented by endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  by an interface that participant  123  and participant  124  use to connect to the second meeting. For example, information  304  may be presented in a popup window displayed by a conference client application that connects endpoint  103  and endpoint  104  to the second conference session. Participant  123  and participant  124  do not need to look outside of the application used to join the second conference session for information  304  received from participant  122 . In this example, so as not to distract participant  122  from the first meeting, the communication channel is a one-way channel from participant  122  to participants in the second meeting. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates implementation  400  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Implementation  400  includes conference system  401 , endpoints  402 - 409 , and communication network  410 . Communication network  410  includes one or more local area networks and/or wide area computing networks, including the Internet, over which systems  401 - 409  communicate. Endpoints  402 - 409  may each comprise a telephone, laptop computer, desktop workstation, tablet computer, conference room system, or some other type of user operable computing device. Conference system  401  may be an audio/video conferencing server, a packet telecommunications server, a web-based presentation server, or some other type of computing system that facilitates user communication sessions between endpoints. Endpoints  402 - 409  each execute a conference client application that enables endpoints  402 - 409  to join conference sessions facilitated by conference system  401 . In this example, endpoints  402 - 405  are connected to conference session  431  and endpoints  406 - 409  are connected (or will be connected) to conference session  432 , which is scheduled to start after conference session  431  ends. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates operational scenario  500  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. In operational scenario  500 , conference system  101  establishes conference session  431  at step  1  between endpoints  402 - 405 . Conference session  431  may be a voice or video conference session. Conference session  431  may include other communication channels as well, such as a text chat or screen sharing channel. Participants  422 - 425  participate in a meeting over conference session  431  via their respective endpoints  402 - 405 . Conference system  401  then determines at step  2  that a threshold amount of time before the meeting is scheduled to end has been reached while conference session  431  remains established. For example, if the meeting of conference session  431  is scheduled to end at  11 : 00 am and the threshold is set to ten minutes, then the threshold would be reached at  10 : 50 am. In response to the threshold being reached, conference system  401  identifies participants  422 - 423  at step  3  as being participants on conference session  431  that are scheduled to participate in a meeting over conference session  432  after conference session  431  has ended. 
     Conference system  401  prompts participants  422 - 423  at step  4  via endpoints  402 - 403  to query participants  422 - 423  about whether either of them want conference system  401  to perform an overrun check on the meeting of conference session  431 . For example, conference system  401  may transmit a query like query  301  above to endpoints  402 - 403  for presentation to participants  422 - 423  thereat. In response to the prompt, conference system  401  receives an instruction at step  5  to perform the overrun check. For example, conference system  401  may receive a proceed instruction like proceed instruction  302 . The instruction to proceed may be received from one or both of endpoints  402 - 403 , as conference system  401  may only require the proceed instruction from one of the participants. 
     In response to receiving the instruction to proceed with the overrun check, conference system  401  determines at step  6  whether the meeting being held over conference session  431  is going to overrun and for how long. Conference system  401  may query one or more of participants  422 - 425  for their estimates regarding how long the meeting will continue and/or may determine the overrun time using information gathered from other sources, as discussed above. When conference system  401  determines that the meeting is going to overrun into a scheduled start time of a subsequent meeting to be held over conference session  432 , conference system  401  establishes a communication channel at step  7  into conference session  432 . Since conference system  401  facilitates both conference session  431  and conference session  432 , conference system  401  may use any channel mechanism at its disposal to create a communication channel that bridges conference session  431  and conference session  432 . For example, conference client applications executing on endpoints  402 - 409  may include instructions that provide an interface to the communication channel. 
     In this example, conference system  401  presents an overrun time determined during the overrun check to endpoints  402 - 403  at step  8 . The overrun time may indicate an amount of time that the current meeting on conference session  431  is going to overrun its scheduled end time or may indicate an amount of time in which participants  422 - 423  are going to be late to the meeting on conference session  432 . For example, conference system  401  may determine that the current meeting is going to overrun its scheduled end time by  15  minutes. The overrun time presented may, therefore, be  15  minutes. Alternatively, if the second meeting that will be held over conference session  432  is scheduled to start  5  minutes after the current meeting ends, then the overrun time may present  10  minutes because that is the amount of time participants  422 - 423  are expected to be late joining conference session  432 . Regardless, the overrun time is presented in an interface to the communication channel at endpoints  402 - 403 . Participants  422 - 423  may each instruct their respective endpoints  402 - 403  to send the overrun time in information over the communication channel into conference session  432  and/or may provide additional information (e.g., via text input) into the interface to send over the communication channel. The information received from either or both of participants  422 - 423  is send over the communication channel at step  9  to conference system  401 , which passes the information into conference session  432  at step  10 . In this example, endpoints  406 - 409  are already connected to conference session  432  and, therefore, receive the information immediately for presentation to their respective participants  425 - 429 . In other examples, if the information has been passed into conference session  432  prior to an endpoint joining, then the information will be received by the endpoint when the endpoint does connect to conference session  432  (e.g., will already be populated in a chat window of the conference client application along with other chat communications between endpoints  406 - 409 ). 
       FIG.  6    illustrates operational scenario  600  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Operational scenario  600  is an example where conference system  401  considers whether participants  422 - 423  are core participants to the meeting over conference session  432 . Operation  200  discussed above may also benefit from the core participant considerations described in operational scenario  600 . A core participant is a participant that is important to a meeting such that the meeting may not be worth having without one or more of the core participants. A calendar invite establishing the meeting may explicitly indicate to conference system  401  which participants are core, conference system  401  may infer from the calendar invite which participants are core (e.g., the participants in the “to” field of the invite may be core participants while participants that are in the “cc” field may not be core participants), conference system  401  may analyze conference materials for the meeting to determine which participants are core (e.g., may determine the authors of a presentation are core participants or or may determine that participants explicitly mentioned in a meeting agenda are core participants), conference system  401  may query participants scheduled to join conference session  432  about whether they are core participants, or conference system  401  may determine that a participant is a core participant in some other manner—including combinations thereof. 
     Operational scenario  600  begins when conference system  401  determines that a time threshold has been met prior to the scheduled end time of the current meeting being held over conference session  431  ( 601 ). Conference system  401  identifies that participants  422 - 423  are scheduled to participate in a meeting over conference session  432  ( 602 ) and queries participants  422 - 423  via endpoints  402 - 403  about whether participants  422 - 423  want conference system  401  to perform an overrun check ( 603 ). In this example, if neither participant  422  nor participant  423  indicate that they wish a overrun check be performed, then conference system  401  opens a communication channel into conference session  432  and notifies participants connected to conference session  432  that participants  422 - 423  are going to be on-time ( 608 ). In some examples, if one of participants  422 - 423  indicates that they do not want the overrun check to be performed, then conference system  401  may only notify that the one participant is going to be on time (e.g., the one participant may be planning on joining conference session  432  on time regardless of the overrun). 
     If one or more of participants  422 - 423  indicate that they do want an overrun check to be performed, then conference system  401  determines whether core participants to the meeting over conference session  432  are unavailable ( 604 ). Conference system  401  may determine that a core participant is unavailable by finding an “away” presence status for the participant in a presence server, by determining that an out-of-office auto-reply message is set up in the participant&#39;s email account, by querying the core participant (e.g., through email or text message), or may determine the participant&#39;s unavailability in some other manner—including combinations thereof. In some examples, conference system  401  may only determine that the core participants are unavailable if all core participants are unavailable, may determine that core participants are unavailable unless at least one core participant is available, or may determine that the core participants are unavailable if a predefined portion of the core participants are unavailable (e.g., 50% or more of the core participants are unavailable). In some examples, one or more of participants  422 - 423  may be core participants. 
     In response to determining that the core participants are unavailable, conference system  401  notifies other participants on conference session  432  (or scheduled to be connected to conference session  432 ) that the core participants are unavailable ( 605 ). The notification may be presented through conference session  432  and/or conference session  431  (e.g., via a conference client interface on the endpoints) and/or may use a different communication mode (e.g., email or text). In some examples, conference system  401  may indicate which of the core participants are unavailable in the notification. Conference system  401  also determines whether the meeting over conference session  432  should be canceled due to the unavailability of the core participants ( 606 ). Conference system  401  may determine that the meeting should be canceled only if all core participants are unavailable or if a predefined portion (e.g., 50%) of the core participants are unavailable. In some examples, conference system  401  may query other participants of the meeting about whether the meeting should be canceled after notifying the participants about the core participant unavailability. If conference system  401  determines that the meeting should be canceled, conference system  401  sends a meeting cancelation notification to the participants of the meeting, which includes participants  422 - 423  ( 607 ). The notification may be implemented by deleting the calendar invite for the meeting which propagates to the calendars of participants on the meeting. The participants&#39; respective calendar applications may then alert the participants to the cancelation. In some examples, the deletion of the calendar invite also triggers an email be sent to the participants, which alerts the participants to the cancelation. Other forms of notifying participants may also/instead be used. 
     If conference system  401  determines that the core participants are not unavailable (e.g., one or more are available) or determines otherwise that the meeting should not be canceled, then conference system  401  presents a status of conference session  432  to participants  422 - 423  ( 609 ). The status may indicate that conference session  432  is still expected to begin on time for the meeting, a list of participants determined to still be available for the meeting, a list of participants already joined to conference session  432 , an amount of time participants  422 - 423  will likely be delayed for joining conference session  432 , as determined by the overrun check, or some other information that participants  422 - 423  may find useful regarding conference session  432 . 
     In this example, after (or while) conference system  401  present the status of conference session  432 , conference system  401  queries participants  422 - 423  about whether they want to notify participants on conference session  432  about the delay time (i.e., overrun time with respect to the scheduled start of conference session  432 ) ( 610 ). In response to one or more of participants  422 - 423  indicating that participants on conference session  432  should be notified about the delay time, conference system  401  transmits the delay time in information over a communication channel established into conference session  432  ( 611 ). Endpoints  406 - 409  present the delay time to their respective participants  425 - 429 . 
     Also, in this example, conference system  401  determines whether to delay conference session  432  if either or both of participants  422 - 423  are core participants ( 612 ). Conference system  401  may query participants  422 - 423  about whether either of them wants to delay conference session  432 , may delay conference session  432  by default if either or both of participants  422 - 423  are delayed, or may determine to delay conference session  432  by some other means. If conference system  401  determines that conference session  432  should be delayed, conference system  401  sends a delay notification to participants on conference session  432  ( 613 ). The delay notification may be sent over the communication channel into conference session  432  to notify participants  425 - 429  via their respective endpoints  406 - 409  connected to conference session  432 , may update the calendar invite for the meeting to account for the delay, or may notify participants in some other manner—including combinations thereof. If participants  422 - 423  are not core participants or conference system  401  has otherwise determined that conference session  432  should not be delayed on their account, conference system  401  checks for core participants in other conference sessions ( 614 ). Should core participants to conference session  432  also currently be in meetings that are going to overrun, conference system  401  may determine based on those core participants that conference session  432  should still be delayed and delay conference session  432  accordingly. Conference system  401  may have also performed the above steps with respect to the participants in those other sessions as well. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates display system  700  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Display system  700  is an example display system for endpoint  402 , although, endpoint  403  may include a similar display system that performs similarly. Display system  700  includes display  711  and camera  721 . Display  711  may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Light Emitting Diode display (LED), or some other type of display capable of presenting images described below. Camera  721  includes optics and an image sensor for capturing video of a participant viewing display  711 . Camera  721  may be omitted in some examples. In some examples, display system  700  may further include a microphone and/or one or more speakers for participant  422  to input and receive voice communications over conference sessions. 
     In this example, endpoint  402  is currently connected to conference session  431 , which is a video conference session, using a conference client application. Display  711  is displaying an example Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the conference client application. The GUI shows participant windows  731 - 733 , participant list  734 , communication channel window  735 , and end call button  741 , which ends endpoint  402 ′s connection to conference session  431  when pressed. Real-time video of participant  423  is shown in participant window  731 , which is larger than participant window  732  and participant window  733  because participant  423  is currently speaking. Participant window  732  shows real-time video of participant  424  and participant window  733  shows real-time video of participant  425 . Participant list  734  lists participants  422 - 425  as participants on conference session  431 . 
     Communication channel window  735  is displayed in response to conference system  401  sending endpoint  402  a meeting status for the meeting scheduled to occur over conference session  432 . In this case, the status indicates that  2 / 3  of the core participants that are scheduled to join conference session  432  are available and indicates that conference system  401  has determined, during an overrun check, that participant  422  will be delayed in joining conference session  432  by  5  minutes. Communication channel window  735  allows participant  422  to adjust the number of minutes up or down and allows participant  422  to enter a message into text entry box  737 . Upon participant  422  selecting send button  736 , the information from communication channel window  735  (i.e., the delay time and the message) is send via a communication channel that conference system  401  has established into conference session  432 . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates display system  800  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Display system  800  is an example display system for endpoint  409 , although, endpoints  406 - 408  may include a similar display systems that perform similarly. Display system  800  includes display  811  and camera  821 . Display  811  may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Light Emitting Diode display (LED), or some other type of display capable of presenting images described below. Camera  821  includes optics and an image sensor for capturing video of a participant viewing display  811 . Camera  821  may be omitted in some examples. In some examples, display system  800  may further include a microphone and/or one or more speakers for participant  429  to input and receive voice communications over conference sessions. 
     In this example, endpoint  409  is currently connected to conference session  432 , which is a video conference session, using a conference client application. Display  811  is displaying an example Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the conference client application. The GUI shows participant windows  831 - 833 , participant list  834 , chat channel window  835 , and end call button  841 , which ends endpoint  409 ′s connection to conference session  432  when pressed. Real-time video of participant  427  is shown in participant window  831 , which is larger than participant window  832  and participant window  833  because participant  427  is currently speaking. Participant window  832  shows real-time video of participant  426  and participant window  833  shows real-time video of participant  428 . 
     Display  811  is displaying an example of the GUI for the client application after the information described above with respect to display system  700  is sent from endpoint  402  over a communication channel established into conference session  432 . Upon receipt of the information, endpoint  409  causes display  811  to display chat channel window  835  for chat channel  801  of conference session  432 . Typically chat channel  801  is used for chat communications between participants currently on conference session  432 . Participant  429  can type whatever message they want to sent into text entry box  837  and then send the message onto chat channel  801  by selecting send button  836 . In this example, information received from endpoint  402  is presented in chat channel  801  because conference system  401  uses chat channel  801  of conference session  432  for the communication channel from endpoint  402  into conference session  432 . Since chat channel  801  is for conference session  432  as a whole, the other participants  426 - 428  that are currently on conference session  432  will also see the information in chat channel windows for chat channel  801  being displayed by their respective endpoints  406 - 408 . In this example, conference system  401  also updates the information in participant list  834  to list participants  426 - 429  as participants currently on conference session  432  and participants  422 - 423  as delayed participants who are not yet connected to conference session  432 . 
       FIG.  9    illustrates computing architecture  900  for establishing a communication channel into a conference session for a subsequent meeting. Computing architecture  900  is an example computing architecture for conference systems  101  and  401 , although systems  101  and  401  may use alternative configurations. Other systems described above, such as the endpoints, may also use computing architecture  900 . Computing architecture  900  comprises communication interface  901 , user interface  902 , and processing system  903 . Processing system  903  is linked to communication interface  901  and user interface  902 . Processing system  903  includes processing circuitry  905  and memory device  906  that stores operating software  907 . 
     Communication interface  901  comprises components that communicate over communication links, such as network cards, ports, RF transceivers, processing circuitry and software, or some other communication devices. Communication interface  901  may be configured to communicate over metallic, wireless, or optical links. Communication interface  901  may be configured to use TDM, IP, Ethernet, optical networking, wireless protocols, communication signaling, or some other communication format—including combinations thereof. 
     User interface  902  comprises components that interact with a user. User interface  902  may include a keyboard, display screen, mouse, touch pad, or some other user input/output apparatus. User interface  902  may be omitted in some examples. 
     Processing circuitry  905  comprises microprocessor and other circuitry that retrieves and executes operating software  907  from memory device  906 . Memory device  906  comprises a computer readable storage medium, such as a disk drive, flash drive, data storage circuitry, or some other memory apparatus. In no examples would a computer readable storage medium of memory device  906 , or any other computer readable storage medium herein, be considered a transitory form of signal transmission (often referred to as “signals per se”), such as a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal or carrier wave. Operating software  907  comprises computer programs, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable processing instructions. Operating software  907  includes overrun module  908 . Operating software  907  may further include an operating system, utilities, drivers, network interfaces, applications, or some other type of software. When executed by processing circuitry  905 , operating software  907  directs processing system  903  to operate computing architecture  900  as described herein. 
     In particular, overrun module  908  directs processing system  903  to, during a first meeting, determine a participant in the first meeting that is scheduled to participate in a second meeting following the first meeting. The participant operates a participant endpoint to participate in the first meeting over a first conference session established between the participant endpoint and other participant endpoints. Overrun module  908  directs processing system  903  to perform an overrun check that results in an overrun determination that the first meeting is going to extend beyond a scheduled start time of the second meeting. In response to the overrun determination, overrun module  908  directs processing system  903  to establish a communication channel between the participant endpoint and a second conference session for the second meeting while the participant endpoint remains on the first conference session. Overrun module  908  directs processing system  903  to transmit information from the participant over the communication channel to the second conference session. 
     The descriptions and figures included herein depict specific implementations of the claimed invention(s). For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. In addition, some variations from these implementations may be appreciated that fall within the scope of the invention. It may also be appreciated that the features described above can be combined in various ways to form multiple implementations. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific implementations described above, but only by the claims and their equivalents.