Abstract:
A method of deploying a teleconference system, including the steps of during a teleconference, receiving a multiplicity of events from a telephone switch communicating via a plurality of phone lines with a plurality of calling devices, and sending messages pertaining to the events to a plurality of displays, wherein each of the displays is associated with one of the calling devices.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to teleconferences in general, and more particuarly to provision of visual information for teleconferences.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    Telephone conference calls, otherwise known as teleconferences, have become one of the industry&#39;s main channels for working in virtual teams. Teleconferences enable joint work between remote teams, global international companies and mobile workers. However, teleconferences are still not as effective as face-to-face meetings.  
           [0003]    As an example, in teleconferencing it is difficult identify the presence of other invited participants. Additionally, the participants may not know the other participants, their affiliation, job titles and responsibilities in the organization.  
           [0004]    Furthermore, unless the listener is familiar with the speaker, it is difficult to identify the identity of the current speaker. Likewise, it is hard to keep track of “who said what”, “who presented what”, and the general dynamics of the teleconference.  
           [0005]    All this may cause misunderstanding and confusion. To compound these difficulties, telephone communication does not provide the participants with visual aids such as body language, facial expression and other nonverbal information. Hence, participants may miss the full meaning of the message being conveyed.  
           [0006]    Furthermore, for important teleconferences, it may be imperative to archive the conference such that each part of the teleconference is associated with the applicable speaker. Such capabilities are not available in prior art teleconferences.  
           [0007]    Videoconferencing compensates for many of these difficulties. However, videoconferencing has several drawbacks, such as long delays, poor image quality, expensive and complicated setting. These drawbacks restrict widespread use of the technology.  
           [0008]    Another solution is information Technology (IT) based solutions, such as Microsoft Netmeeting™ an Lotus Sametime™. While solving some of the problems, these technologies do not provide a complete solution. In particular they do not offer support to mobile workers that rely mostly on handheld devices and cellular phones.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0009]    It is an objective of the present invention to augment teleconferences with visual information. The visual information may be presented on computer monitors, on the displays of handheld devices, or on cellular phones displays.  
           [0010]    The presented information may include, among other things, a list of participants, currently attendees, current speaker, current topic, agenda of the call, etc. The present invention may provide rich contextual knowledge not offered in prior art  
           [0011]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a teleconferencing system for a teleconference. The system includes a service and a conference information center. The service receives a multiplicity of events via a telephone switch. The telephone switch communicates via a plurality of phone lines with a plurality of calling devices. The conference information center receives the events from the service, and sends messages pertaining to the events to a plurality of display, wherein each display is associated with one of the calling devices.  
           [0012]    The events may include call member joined teleconference, call member left teleconference, call member speaking, call member is dominant speaker, change of topic, schedule change, or request to be speaker.  
           [0013]    The present embodiment may include a conferencing bridge in communication with the telephone switch. The conferencing bridge maps each of the plurality of phone lines to an associated call leg. When an event happens on one of the phone lines, the conferencing bridge associates the event with one of the call legs and notifies the service of the event and associated call leg. The invention may also include a voice activity device (VAD). The VAD detects voice activity, associates the activity with one of the plurality of telephone lines, and notifies the conference bridge of the activity and the associated phone line.  
           [0014]    The present embodiment may further include a participant identification module and a participant device mapping module in communication with the service. The participant identification module associates each of a plurality of users with one of the plurality of phone lines. The participant device mapping module maps the plurality of calling devices. Upon notification of an event, the service associates the event with a user, and notifies the conference information center of the event and the associated user.  
           [0015]    The conference information center may include conference information, wherein the conference center sends text messages pertaining to the conference information to the displays. The conference information may include invitees name; invitee affiliation; invitee job title; invitee static picture; invitee video image; status of invitees—missing, attending, speaking, presenting, mediating; agenda; title of topics; planned duration of topics; actual duration of topics; presenter of topic; topic supporting material; topic decisions; speakers list; past, present and future speakers; current speaker; text messages may be created by the users during the teleconference; type of message, author of message, and audience to whom message was sent.  
           [0016]    The present embodiment may include a recorder for recording the teleconference. The recorder in communication with the service, the service for associating periods of the recording with events, and for allowing replay of the recording according to the associated events.  
           [0017]    The plurality of calling devices may includes a messaging module, such that during the teleconference, the messaging module sends messages to one or more other the calling devices. The system may also include a dominant speaker detector in communication with one of the calling devices. The dominant speaker detector detects a dominant speaker among two or more speakers using the calling device, and notifies the service who is the dominant speaker.  
           [0018]    According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a method for teleconferencing. The method includes during a teleconference, receiving a multiplicity of events from a telephone switch communicating via a plurality of phone lines with a plurality of calling devices. The method further includes sending messages pertaining to the events to a plurality of displays, each the display associated with one of the calling devices.  
           [0019]    The embodiment may further include mapping each of the plurality of phone lines with an associated call leg, and upon occurrence of an event on one of the phone lines, associating the event with its associated call leg. Further steps may include associating each of a plurality of users with one of the plurality of phone lines, mapping each of the calling device, and upon notification of an event, notifying the plurality of users of the event and the user associated with the event.  
           [0020]    The present embodiment may also include storing conference information, and sending text messages pertaining to the conference information to the displays. Next steps may includes recording the teleconference, associating periods of the recording with events, and replaying of the recording with the associated events.  
           [0021]    The present embodiment may also include sending data notifications via IP to the calling devices includes GPRS capabilities, and displaying on the display associated with the plurality of calling devices a graphical view of speakers and associated period of presentation.  
           [0022]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a method for displaying participants in a teleconference. The method includes the steps of displaying at least a dynamic list of names of the participants, and when one of the participants is speaking, indicating that the one participant is currently speaking. The step of indicating includes the step of displaying the name of the speaking participant at the top of the list.  
           [0023]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a teleconference lifeline, wherein the lifeline includes a dynamic list of names of the participants in a teleconference, wherein the name of the current speaking participant is listed at the top of the list.  
           [0024]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium. The computer program includes a first code segment operative to receive a multiplicity of events via a telephone switch communicating via a plurality of phone lines with a plurality of calling devices. A second code segment is operative to receive the events and send messages pertaining to the events to a plurality of displays, each the display associated with one of the calling devices. A third code segment is operative to associate each of a plurality of users with one of the plurality of phone lines.  
           [0025]    A fourth code segment is operative to map the plurality of calling devices and upon notification of an event. A fifth code segment operative to associate the event with a user, and notify the second code segment of the event and the associated user.  
           [0026]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a method of deploying a teleconference system. The method of deploying includes the steps of during a teleconference, receiving a multiplicity of events from a telephone switch communicating via a plurality of phone lines with a plurality of calling devices, and sending messages pertaining to the events to a plurality of displays, wherein each the display is associated with one of the calling devices.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0027]    The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings in which:  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an augmented teleconferencing system, operated and constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 is an illustration of a lifetime diagram, constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0030]    Reference is now made to FIG. 1, a block illustration of system  10 , an augmented teleconferencing system, operated and constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0031]    System  10  may provide a complete and coherent solution to the problems described in the Background. System  10  may provide the solution via use of existing data channels, such as Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCP/IP based protocols and visual displays of mobile and other devices.  
         [0032]    System  10  uses events from telephony switches to detect when participants join or leave the call, and when they speak. System  10  similarly uses events sent by users and their applications to detect the same information.  
         [0033]    System  10  may comprise a conference information manager  30  to store and distribute information about the meeting. The devices associated with the different call members may present the information based on the capabilities of the device, and user preferences.  
         [0034]    System  10  may comprise a plurality of conference call members  12 , a conferencing bridge  18 , a voice activity detector (VAD)  20 , a teleconferencing service  24 , and a conference information manager  30 .  
         [0035]    Call members  12  may be cell phone users with SMS or WAP capacities, telephone users with smart telephone capabilities, and/or telephone users with computers. Call members  12  may additionally comprise cell phone users with hand held devices with SMS capabilities. The above list is meant to be illustrative of the possible call members  12 , while not limiting the complete options to the above list. Other possible options for call members  12  are included within the true spirit and scope of this invention.  
         [0036]    In an optional preferred embodiment, two or more call members  12  may be connecting to system  10  on the same call-leg, i.e. on a shared phone in a conference room. In these cases, system  10  may comprise a dominant speaker detector  14 . Dominant speaker detector  14  is typically installed in the conference room. Dominant speaker detector  14  identifies the dominant speaker and send this information a service execution environment (SEE)  22 .  
         [0037]    In order to identify the dominant speaker, in one embodiment, dominant speaker detector  14  may comprise a microphone and multiple active badges (not shown), one for each person in the room. Via the active badges, dominate speaker detector  14  “knows” where the is badge is located, and hence where each person is sitting. The microphone then detects where the dominant voice is coming from.  
         [0038]    In an alternative solution, each person participating in the conference call may have an active device comprising a small microphone. When the microphone detects that the associated user is speaking, the active device notifies dominant speaker detector  14 . Alternatively, the active device may transmit the voice level, but not the actual speaking to dominate speaker detector  14 . Dominant speaker detector  14  then decides who the dominant speaker is, and send this information to SEE  22 .  
         [0039]    It is noted that although not listed herein, there are numerous methods and apparatus to perform the functions of dominate speaker detector  14 . Such methods and apparatus, although not listed, fall within the scope and principles of the present invention.  
         [0040]    Conferencing bridge  18  may sit on a telephony switch  16 . Telephone switch  16  may comprise a plurality of telephone lines. Some of the telephone lines may be “cordless” telephone lines.  
         [0041]    Conferencing bridge  18  may be a centralized and may enable multipoint control unit (MCU) features for media mixing on multiparty calls. Each telephone line may be mapped to a call leg at conferencing bridge  18 . When an event occurs on a call leg, such as “user started speaking”, conferencing bridge  18  sends this information to SEE  22 .  
         [0042]    In preferred embodiments, conferencing bridge  18  may comprise a callback service  19 . Callback  19  may provide the ability to reserve a conference at a specific time. Callback  19  may enable conferencing bridge  18  to telephone call members  12  at a specific time. Callback  19  may additionally enable conferencing bridge  18  to notify and remind the call members  12  of a teleconference.  
         [0043]    In preferred embodiments of the present invention VAD  20  may also sit on telephony switch  16 . When there is voice activity on more then one leg, VAD  20  may determine the dominant speaker. VAD  20  may work in a self-detection mode, when possible. In alternative embodiments, as noted above, dominant speaker detector  14  may identify the dominant speaker.  
         [0044]    Service  24  may sit on SEE  22 . SEE  22  may receive call information from a telephony switch  20 . SEE  22  may also connect to the Internet. Information received by SEE  22  may be delivered to service  24 .  
         [0045]    Service  24  may comprise a participant identification module (PIM)  26  and a participate device mapping (PDM)  28 .  
         [0046]    Participant identification module  26  may comprise a list of invitees, and mapping from the call-legs to call members  12 . Via the mapping, system  10  may detect events such as ‘user joined’, ‘user left’ and/or ‘user speaking’.  
         [0047]    Participant device mapping  28  may comprise a list of call members  12  and their associated calling devices. Participant device mapping  28  may additionally comprise the capabilities and address of the associated calling devices. Participant device mapping  28  may send this information and events to the conference information manager  30 .  
         [0048]    Conference information manager  30  may store and update the conference status, and send status updates to the associated calling devices of call members  12 . Changes in the status of the teleconference, such as ‘topic started’ ‘user x sent message y to users z’ will arrive at conference information manager  30 . Conference information manager  30  may then store this information and distribute it to the call members  12 .  
         [0049]    It is noted that in alternative embodiments, conference information manager  30 , rather than service  24 , may comprise participant identification module  26  and participant device mapping  28 . Additionally, although represented herein as two elements, participant identification module  26  and participant device mapping  28  may be joined into one element.  
         [0050]    Conference information manager  30  may communicate with an SMS dispatcher  32 . SMS dispatcher  32  may connect to the Internet and may have the ability to send SMS messages to and from the Internet. SMS dispatcher  32  may additionally send SMS messages via a cellular phone provider switch.  
         [0051]    System  10  may additionally communicate with a general packet radio service (GPRS) provider  34 . GPRS provider  34  may exchange data information in addition to voice and take advantage of the capabilities of the display.  
         [0052]    In preferred embodiments of the present invention, system  10  may comprise a recorder  36 . Recorder  36  may sit at either a call member  12  with a smart phone or on SEE  22 . Recorder  36  may associate each recording frame with the current speaker. Detailed explanation of the recording and playback process will be described hereinbelow in reference to FIG. 2.  
         [0053]    The operation and functioning of system  10  will now be explained.  
         [0054]    When setting up the teleconference, one of the call members  12 , or any other person, may provide initial information to conference information manager  30 . The initial information may comprise typical teleconference information, such as date, time, and conference number, as well as agenda details and the personal details of the call members  12 .  
         [0055]    In some embodiments, conference information manager  30  may be in communication with a corporate database (not shown). The corporate database may provide the personal details of each call member  12 , thus eliminating the need to provide such information manually. Conference information manager  30  may store this information.  
         [0056]    When a new call member  12  connects to the teleconference, telephony switch  16  is aware of this information. Telephony switch  16  may send the port and caller identification of new call member  12  to SEE  22 . In preferred embodiments, SEE  22  may provide service  24  with low-level events detected by the telephony switches  16 . In alternative embodiments, SEE  22  may provide higher-level events to service  22 , or directly to conference information manager  30 .  
         [0057]    As noted above, service  24  holds the information on call members  12 , their associated ports/legs, and mapping of their names and caller ids. Service  24  may pass the event, e.g. “New user”, to the conference information manager  30 .  
         [0058]    Conference information manager  30  updates the list of call members  12  in the teleconference. Conference information manager  30  may then send an event message to call members  12  notifying them of the new call member status. The event message may be sent over IP-line, as an SMS message or as a WAP-push message  
         [0059]    In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the call members  12  may receive at least a subset of a Conference Information Structure that is represented in Extendable Markup Language (XML). The form of the conference XML-based information may be determined according to the capabilities of the call member&#39;s associated calling device. Examples of conference XML-based information are listed hereinbelow. In some cases, the XML-based structure may be mapped to another format before sending it. For example, if the associated calling device is SMS-enabled only, an SMS message may be sent with a list of all attending call members  12 .  
         [0060]    In alternative embodiments, according to the capabilities of the associated device, call members  12  may request to view further information about the teleconference. As an example, call members  12  may request to receive detailed information about a particular call member  12 , the speakers&#39; list, or see the list of topics.  
         [0061]    During the teleconference, call member  12  may send a text or multimedia message to any subset of the participant list. Service  24  assists in passing some of those messages as SMS or Multimedia Messaging System (MMS) messages, while others may use WAP or the TCP/IP channel. Call member  12  may define the context of the message, i.e. the current topic, ‘general’, ‘gossip’, undefined, and so on. The message may then be stored according to the defined context.  
         [0062]    In a preferred embodiment system  10  may be a disciplined environment. In such cases, system  10  may give call members  12  a “speaker” role. Call member  12  may then send a dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) message when he wants to speak. Conferencing bridge  18  may receive the DTMF message, and send the request to speak to SEE  22 .  
         [0063]    SEE  22  may inform service  24  of the request, who in turn may inform conference information manager  30 . Alternatively, SEE may directly inform conference information manager  30 . Conference information manager  30  may then send a ‘speaker-changed’ event with the speaker&#39;s name to call members  12 .  
         [0064]    Alternatively, in a non-disciplined environment, one of the call members  12  may start to speak. VAD  20  may detect voice activity, and via dominant speaker algorithms identify the dominant speaker. This information is passed to service  24  and conference information manager  30 . Conference information manager  30  may send to call members  12  a ‘speaker-changed’ event with the speaker&#39;s name.  
         [0065]    In preferred embodiments of the present invention, a conference moderator or another user may manually enter some changes to system  10 . Examples of such changes may include, inter alia, ending one topic and starting the other. These events may be sent to call members  12  in the same manner as described above.  
         [0066]    Reference is now made to the below example of conference XML-based information. During the teleconference, and according to the capabilities of their associated calling device, call members  12  may navigate through the XML-based information.  
         [0067]    Invitees&#39; For each invitee any subset of the following:  
         [0068]    Name  
         [0069]    Affiliation  
         [0070]    Job title  
         [0071]    Picture  
         [0072]    a. Static; a picture taken from archive, or  
         [0073]    b. Current; from a video or a still-image source currently operational  
         [0074]    Status (missing, attending, speaking, presenting, mediating, etc.)  
         [0075]    Agenda; Topic list, and for each topic any subset of the following:  
         [0076]    Title  
         [0077]    Duration  
         [0078]    Planned  
         [0079]    Actual  
         [0080]    Type; discussion, presentation, review, etc.  
         [0081]    Presenter  
         [0082]    Supporting Material  
         [0083]    Decisions  
         [0084]    Speakers List  
         [0085]    A sequential list of the speakers in the teleconference, past, present and future. As an example, the list may comprise call members  12  waiting to speak, and the order in which they are invited to speak. For each past speaker, the start and end time of their speaking period may be kept.  
         [0086]    The current speaker—a quick access to the ‘present speaker’ in the list. In some embodiments, the name of the current speaker may be displayed as the first call member  12  in the list of participating call members  12 . In other embodiments, the current speaker is identified via alternative methods, such as flashing the name of the current speaker, placing a symbol next to the current speaker&#39;s name, etc.  
         [0087]    Accompanying Text Messages; During the teleconference, text messages may be created by call members  12 . Some of the message may be of public nature, while others may be private. Public messages may include, inter alia, formal messages such as meeting-minutes or action items. Private message may include among other things, chats between participants. For each message the following information may be saved:  
         [0088]    Type; SMS, WAP, etc.  
         [0089]    Author  
         [0090]    Audience; who was the message sent to  
         [0091]    Timestamp  
         [0092]    Context; if provided, discussion or chat thread  
         [0093]    Cameras (optional); For each camera  
         [0094]    Name; the location or person photographed  
         [0095]    url or ip address  
         [0096]    userid and password  
         [0097]    Type; still images or video  
         [0098]    Call members  12  may decide which part(s) of the conference XML-based information to concentrate on, and which part(s) to display. Depending on the available display, conference XML-based information may be presented in parallel or only one part at a time.  
         [0099]    In some preferred embodiments, depending on the associated calling devices, changes to the teleconference information may be ‘pushed’ to the call members  12  as events. In particular, SMS or WAP-push messages may be used to send these events to the call members  12 . Thus, via messages, and without the necessity of running a dedicated application, the present invention may be provided to cellular phone users.  
         [0100]    Please refer now to FIG. 2, an illustration of a lifetime diagram  50 , constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0101]    When teleconferences are critical, it may be important to record the teleconference. It may be equally important to be able to identify, at any particular time, the current speaker. Thus, service  24  may save the ongoing dominant speaker identity. In alternative embodiments, call change information may be stored with the recorded voice. Alternatively, event information may be stored with the recorded voice.  
         [0102]    The above alternative storage methods may enable “smart” replay. A user may chose to listen to just one call member  12 , to replay from any position, and/or to perform statistics and analysis on all the calls. In alternative embodiments, call member  12  may request lifeline diagram  50  of the teleconference.  
         [0103]    Lifeline diagram  50  may be a two-dimension dynamic graph representing the participation of call members  12  at any point in time of the teleconference. Lifeline diagram  50  may be used either in real-time or in playback.  
         [0104]    Lifetime diagram  50  may comprise call lifelines  52  and time blocks  54 . Each lifeline  52  may be associated with a call member  12 . Time block  54  may comprise the identify and recording for the dominate speaker for that associated time.  
         [0105]    Lifeline diagram  50  may conveniently enable viewing of call members  12  participated at any specific time. When viewing the lifeline diagram  50  with a Mobil Information Device (MID) or other device with a limited viewing area, the lifeline diagram  50  may “bubble” the active lifelines  52  to the top of lifeline diagram  50 . Consequently, the top lifelines  52  in diagram  50  may be the most active ones. In preferable embodiments, at any time during the teleconference, the top lifeline  52  is the current speaker.  
         [0106]    In a limited viewing device, such as a small cell phone, bubbling up the lifelines  52  may be critical because the display may not be large enough to show all or most of the conference participants. If the bubbling is not active, the user will not be able to benefit from all the information available in lifeline diagram  50 .  
         [0107]    Lifeline  52  may be active when the telephone line of the associated call member  12  shows activity. One lifeline  52  may be more active than an other if (1) one lifeline  52  is active more time then the another lifeline  52 , or (2) if no lifeline  52  is active, than the lifeline  52  that was active last remains active.  
         [0108]    Lifeline diagram  50  may also be interactive. When activated, time block  54  may play a recording of the associated dominant speaker for that relevant time block. Alternatively, when a speaker block  52  is activated, a recording of the associated call member  12  may be heard. Lifeline diagram  52  may provide a powerful tool to analyze and thoroughly understood the teleconference.  
         [0109]    While the present invention has been described with reference to one or more specific embodiments, the description is intended to be illustrative of the invention as a whole and is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the embodiments shown. It is appreciated that various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art that, while not specifically shown herein, are nevertheless within the true spirit and scope of the invention.