US007804948B2
`
`(12) Ulllted States Patent
`Turner
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
`Sep. 28, 2010
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INITIATING A
`CONFERENCE CALL
`
`6,188,683 B1
`6,856,809 B2 *
`
`2/2001 Lang et a1.
`2/2005 Fostick ..................... .. 455/466
`
`(
`
`75
`
`)
`
`Inventor. Tod Turner, Lake Forest Park, WA (US)
`
`~
`
`7 085 258 B2
`20020071539 Al
`’
`’
`
`8/2006 Creamer et a1.
`6/2002 Diament et a1‘
`
`(73) Assignee: LINQWare, Inc., Kenmore, WA (US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject' to any disclaimer,~ the term of this
`Pawnt 15 extended Or adlusted under 35
`U'S'C' 154(b)by Odays'
`
`6/2002 Dworkin
`2002/0071540 A1
`6/2002 Thompson et a1.
`2002/0078150 A1
`3/2002 Eisenberg
`2002/011gg09 A1
`2002/0122391 A1* 9/2002 Shalit ....................... .. 370/260
`2003/0105820 A1* 6/2003 Haims et a1. .............. .. 709/205
`
`(21) APPL NO‘. 11,019,655
`
`2006/0088152 A1* 4/2006 Green et a1. ......... .. 379/20201
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Dec. 22, 2004
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`* Cited by examiner
`
`US 2005/0238156 A1
`
`Oct. 27, 2005
`
`Related US. Application Data
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/531,722, ?led on Dec.
`22, 2003.
`
`(51) Int, C],
`(2006.01)
`H04M 3/56
`(2006.01)
`H04L 12/18
`(52) US. Cl. ................. .. 379/204.01; 370/261; 455/416
`(58) Field of Classi?cation Search ..................... .. None
`See application ?le for complete search history.
`R f
`Ct d
`e erences 1 e
`
`(56)
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Primary ExamineriHarry S Hong
`(74)AZZ0rney, A gent, 0rFirm4Connolly Bove Lodge & HutZ
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`The present invention is a system and method for initiating
`conference calls via an instant messaging system to reduce
`the effort required to initiate and manage the call. The system
`uses an IM connection between a requesting party and a
`Conference 0811 server I0 infOrrn the Conference Call Server Of
`the desire to initiate the conference call. The conference call
`server may initiate the conference call by having involved
`parties called by a conference bridge, thus reducing the effort
`required by the parties to join the call.
`
`5,995,608 A * 11/1999 Detampelet a1. .... .. 379/20501
`6,181,786 B1
`1/2001 Detampel, Jr. et a1.
`
`66 Claims, 14 Drawing Sheets
`
`Telephone Networks
`
`CBX
`Conference Request Procesor
`
`1 LI 0 2 0"
`
`Cellular Network
`
`Satellite Network
`
`T2 1., o 8
`
`User D
`
`Phone
`
`N
`E
`T
`W
`O
`R
`K
`
`‘_’
`
`Account, User,
`History, Provider
`Database
`
`,
`
`1 ‘1 00:
`
`lM Communications Processor
`
`j -l l L
`
`Shared Application Session Server
`
`1"" '" '
`
`"
`
`r‘ "i ' o T
`
`-_ Conference Call Bridge ProviderA 4—— -—>
`
`i
`Q’ Conference Call Bridge Provider B
`
`l-Ilo b
`
`O
`O
`
`(,0
`
`GOOGLE EXHIBIT 1001
`
`Page 1 of 23
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
`
`Sheet 1 0f 14
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`F a
`‘Q
`
`.7
`
`1
`
`Provide
`Conference Call
`Server
`
`1:02
`
`y
`
`Provide NAD
`to Call
`Requester q I.‘
`
`i O
`
`7
`
`Call Requester
`Generates Conf. -
`Call Request /L ‘on,
`
`7
`
`Transmit
`Conf. Request
`Message 1 ‘ o g
`
`7
`
`Conf. Request
`Message Received 1m)
`
`7
`
`Conf. Request
`Message
`Pa rsed
`
`fl" “3'
`
`Initiate
`Conference
`Call
`
`#2’ H4
`
`Page 2 of 23
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
`
`Sheet 2 0f 14
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`Network Portal
`establishes connection
`with lM sewer to
`determine presence of
`potential conference
`attendees (targets)
`
`IM Contacts
`List
`
`previous
`Conference
`Participants
`
`Targets are in
`contact list of
`etwork portal use
`
`If Target
`is on-line,
`user may
`
`oes Host want -
`invite to Instant
`message
`
`Ta e is
`not 0 line
`
`N°
`
`Yes
`
`Likely ANl's are established for each
`target
`
`Network Portal establishes text
`message with 1 or more other targets
`-\
`Z Z O;
`
`7
`
`r
`
`Email Contacts
`List
`
`Additional targets are manually added
`to "st
`
`Saved
`Conference
`Setups
`
`_
`_
`_
`Targets are sent invitation to
`conference call via text messenger
`,)
`
`2.0%
`
`No
`
`No lnvite
`
`‘
`
`V
`
`Yes
`
`List of Targets to
`be placed on call
`are sent via Text
`a 8
`Messaging to I
`Conference Call 1' 7'
`Creator Software
`
`7
`
`Conference Call
`Creator Software
`establishes '1 Z to
`Conference Bridge
`with Service
`Provider
`
`7
`
`Conference Bridge
`Software places
`Inbound call to
`each Target
`
`F '
`
`u
`
`2
`
`Page 3 of 23
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 28,2010
`
`Sheet 3 0f 14
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`Figure 3
`
`IM Contacts List
`Previous Conference
`Participants
`
`E 16 t dsL- t
`ma‘ °“ 3
`'5
`
`savedsctonfe'ence
`e ups
`
`Prompt User for"
`Credit Card Info
`
`J, '5 o 8
`use“ ‘5 “m9 'M'
`software
`l
`1‘ 3' 0
`User A requests conference by _,
`‘pressing’ conference button on screen
`*
`User A selects which people to have
`joined in the coonference
`
`Z 3i 2
`
`user A @
`_
`L 3 0?.
`
`r
`U B
`ser
`lM Target in text
`chat
`
`UserC
`lM Target not in
`text chat
`I
`3°“
`
`\
`I
`3 °”'
`
`2 0
`
`No
`
`Validate Credrt
`Card Info-
`
`Display Message
`for User A - no
`
`Yes
`
`conferencess I
`allowed
`1 f) t (o
`
`v
`
`Card OK
`
`9
`32 h
`No
`rsp ay essage
`-Cannot Make _
`Cconference
`
`v
`
`1
`
`Stop
`
`User A CBX client
`sends conference
`request to CBX
`server
`i
`
`330
`j
`
`3 z w
`\1
`
`CBX server send
`conference
`‘
`' request message
`to targets B and C
`
`3 Z 8
`
`Conference
`Data
`
`conference ,
`Server takes
`conference
`request, looks up
`pro?le information
`for targets in this
`f r
`
`4,
`
`IM Client prompts
`target to validate
`direct connect
`info., or choose
`self direct
`
`Yes
`
`Request
`accepted ?
`
`3 16 No
`
`1H5
`(
`Conference Server /
`Receives Recording
`Transcript - adds to
`sess'on 'nformat'on
`Yes
`
`Conference
`was recorded
`
`3 ‘{‘I
`{
`/
`Conference Server tells all
`targets that conference is
`completed. [amenabled
`conference button
`
`T
`
`Conference 5155-
`conference se.rver
`records duration.
`partic'pants of
`conference
`
`A
`
`33cc
`_
`IM Client pops up __j
`message with access
`info. required for selt- 4*N0
`connect to
`conference
`t
`
`Return 'cwference
`Cannot be Completed
`message to Conference
`server
`
`'
`For Every target
`( M2 connected. color on IM
`conversation changes
`to Yelllow, when
`c"nnected- 00""
`changes to Green.
`recording icon is lit
`
`Conference sewer sends
`,
`message to IM Targets B and C, Z 3 8 ®
`and their conference buttons
`3
`become disabled within all
`conferences‘ chg to user setting
`v
`Conference Originator
`is prompted to record
`conference
`
`33 2
`
`f
`Conference Bridge is Yes
`created by
`Conference Switch
`
`33 4
`3
`I
`Conference
`Plot/‘def ling.
`or connects
`targets ABC
`and other -
`targets in
`conference
`originator list
`to bridge
`
`3 “(0
`
`needs to be
`recorded
`
`Yes
`‘
`Conference
`Provider adds
`“silent target for
`recording
`4L
`
`Page 4 of 23
`
`

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`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
`
`Sheet 5 of 14
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`US 7,804,948 B2
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`Sep. 28, 2010
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`U.S. Patent
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`Sep. 28, 2010
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`Sheet 10 0f 14
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`Page 11 of 23
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`

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`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
`
`Sheet 11 0f 14
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`Figure 12
`
`.i
`./v i z o A
`
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`Clientf?
`
`Text Messaging
`Client#2
`
`/L I204 b
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`o "I f’
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`Client?G
`
`1. Originator decides to initiate a conference
`Originator may request conference capabiiitiesf rem server
`B-l?vilaiio?se?t
`4v Server returns conference parameters to host,
`94 AnBndBe Responds
`intert ace options are adjusted accordingly
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`thetext
`‘
`‘
`‘
`,other
`-‘ ‘ L
`
`previous conf 5e?” records. or manual input from the host
`7. Target connection infcnnatlcn for each attendee
`(e.g.ANt, IPeddress, orother uniqueiy identifying
`characteristics of each target) are sent to Serv er
`
`8 my ika?onsem
`'
`
`9_ Attendee Responds
`
`8. l nv itationsent
`9. Attendee Responds
`16.Clientsreceiv esDNlS. _’
`IP address or other unique
`.
`identifierof Conference
`
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`Client1t4 _
`
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`or other unique identifier for potential
`attendees, or otherinio. Necessary to
`Connect the targets into the con! erence
`
`‘l
`
`I 7’ o 1
`
`_
`Tex‘ Messagmg
`Database
`
`‘ L08
`
`2. Serv er recelv es call setup request from originator,
`queries call setup software for provider capabilities
`3. Serv or software may return conference capabilities
`to serv er
`10. Server sends conference setupintormation
`to Conference setup software
`15. Text Messaging Serv ersends DNIS or IP address __’--'> Confgfs: Setup
`of conference targets who cannot be connected
`0
`re
`by host and need to be the initiators the
`connection process
`
`'2 o 0
`
`#17
`
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`lnboundconnecuol
`
`11, Send cconlerence info (setup and target info)
`info to conference Bridge
`14. For targets who wish to initiate connection from the rend
`bridge returns DN l8. IP address. or otherunique identif i r
`
`Conf erenceBridge
`
`12, Conference bridge is
`created
`13, targets are called
`
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`
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`
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`
`Personal
`
`Page 12 of 23
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
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`Sheet 12 0f 14
`
`US 7,804,948 B2
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 28, 2010
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`Sheet 13 0f 14
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`US 7,804,948 B2
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`US. Patent
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`Sep. 28, 2010
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`Sheet 14 0f 14
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`US 7,804,948 B2
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`Figure 15
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`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INITIATING A
`CONFERENCE CALL
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`The present application is a continuation-in-part of US.
`Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/531,722 ?led on
`Dec. 22, 2003, the entire contents of Which are incorporated
`herein by reference thereto.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates generally to a method for
`initiating a conference call betWeen tWo or more users, and
`more particularly to initiating a voice conference call betWeen
`tWo or more users using a central server to communicate
`parameters for the call and for initiating the call itself.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Business meetings Where the differing perspectives of the
`participants provide the value of the meeting have been con
`ducted for a long time. As the costs associated With travel have
`increased, companies have turned from face to face meetings
`to meetings alloWing participants to be separately located,
`including telephone conferences, video conferences, and
`more recently through on-line meetings.
`As traf?c congestion groWs in every part of the country, and
`softWare tools improve, companies WorldWide are recogniZ
`ing that it is possible to have effective meetings on-line. There
`are various forms of real-time, or on-line, collaboration. The
`simplest form is instant messaging. The ability of messaging
`softWare to tell another user Who is available at a given
`moment is called “presence”. Presence aWareness has been
`proven to eliminate up to 35% of voicemail, and as much as
`30% of email, particularly long threaded discussions.
`Because of this, instant messaging has become the fastest
`groWing form of communication in history. Gartner predicts
`over 200 million business users Will be using some form of
`enterprise instant messaging by the end of 2005, an increase
`of over 100 million users from 2003.
`Instant messaging has its roots in the consumer industry,
`but is virally Working its Way into corporations. Consumer
`messaging systems typically offer no security, no IT control
`over usage, and no reporting capabilities. Nor do consumer
`systems offer tracking history of conversations, a requirement
`of a number of federal statutes, from the SEC to Sarbanes
`Oxley to the neW medical HIPPA requirements. There are no
`clear leaders in the corporate instant messaging market,
`although the opportunity has been recently shoWcased by the
`entrance of Microsoft and IBM.
`Oftentimes, messaging leads to the requirement for one or
`more meetings With the participants. Historically this
`required travel, Which lengthened the business processes and
`signi?cantly increased costs. With the advent of various
`forms of desktop application sharing, it is noW possible for
`multiple users to “see” the same desktop at the same time.
`This “real-time” collaboration market is just emerging, and is
`estimated by Collaborative Strategies to be about a $6 billion
`market, With an average annual groWth rate of 64% through
`2005, and is expected to add 20 million users to its ranks in the
`next several years.
`In a recent Deloitte Consulting survey of 300 of the Fortune
`1000, collaboration Was top priority With 75% of respon
`dents. While less than 30% Were using some form of collabo
`rative tools today, 80% of respondents said they Would imple
`ment some collaboration capability by 2005. According to a
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`recentYankee Group survey, companies Will save $223B over
`next 5 years by collaborating over the Internet.
`Because of the siZe of this emerging opportunity, Microsoft
`recently acquired a company called PlaceWare, for $180 mil
`lion, to provide softWare for on-line meetings. PlaceWare has
`been renamed and is noW being offered by Microsoft, coupled
`With WindoWs 2003 server, as Microsoft Live Meeting.
`Microsoft internally calculates that they Will save over $43
`million this year alone in time and travel costs if just 1 in 5
`meetings are conducted on-line. Microsoft Will spend over
`$300 million this year promoting Live Meeting, and joins
`IBM With its Lotus Sametime product, WebEx, and another 3
`doZen smaller competitors.
`The commonality of all of the collaboration products is that
`once the users begin their on-line meeting, they use a number
`of tools. Many of them require some form of application
`sharing, and all of them require some form of accompanying
`communication, from instant messaging to conference calls.
`Although instant messaging is sometimes used for extended
`conversations, most of the time the discussions are brief.
`‘Conversations’ betWeen a number of participants that
`become more involved are dependent upon the typing skills of
`each participant, Which leads to the need for everyone to join
`in a conference call.
`Similarly, real-time collaboration products imply the need
`for a conference call. MS Live Meeting, IBM Lotus Same
`time, WebEx, and a host of other softWare products all make
`an assumption that once you are sharing a document or
`spreadsheet, the users are on a conference call so they can
`discuss it. This brings real value to the meeting, yet the
`integration of the call into the collaboration process has not
`yet been addressed.
`In the past, the problem With integrating telephony prod
`ucts into softWare has centered on integration With the PBX.
`In large part this is because the call initiator’s computer
`needed to pass the various telephony commands to the PBX,
`and no tWo PBX’s are alike. This requires system integrators,
`and up until noW has reduced the scalability of the opportu
`nity.
`Furthermore, most PBX systems can only join a feW users
`in a conference call. They cannot join many parties, leaving
`the originators the option of creating either a “meet me’ or an
`operator assisted conference call. Because the users must
`typically dial a central number, such as a toll free number, and
`enter a passcode, it is dif?cult to make the calls spontaneous.
`Yet, the needs of both instant messaging and on-line meetings
`demand it.
`A further concern arises regarding the security of a confer
`ence call using the call in model. Any caller knoWing the call
`in number and passcode may enter into the conference call,
`Without the knoWledge of the other members of the call.
`Although it is possible for the call service to monitor the
`number of connections, the call service may be unable to
`ascertain the identity of callers, such as Where the calling
`number is blocked. Furthermore, even if the identity of par
`ticipants Were disclosed to a call originator during a confer
`ence call, such information could be a distraction during the
`conference call.
`Conference calls today fall into 2 categories:
`1. “Meet Me” callsiThese conference calls involve all
`users of the call dialing, via a publicly sWitched tele
`phone netWork (hereafter “PSTN”), cellular telephone,
`or via a voice over intemet protocol netWork, a central
`phone number or ANI to a conference bridge and enter
`ing a personal identi?cation number (hereafter “PIN”)
`or pass code to join the call. These calls may be may be
`set up by an originating user by going to a Web site to set
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`US 7,804,948 B2
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`3
`up the call, through calling an operator and setting the
`call up, or setting up a static DNIS to which all users may
`dial on occasion.
`2. Host-initiated CallsiThese calls involve the host origi
`nating calls to all of the participants. In order to accom
`plish this, the host must initiate the call one of two ways:
`a) either the host enters an ANI on his telephone and
`through pressing a combination of buttons has that party
`joined to the call, and repeats this process for each con
`ference call participant, or;
`b) the host types in the phone numbers of all the expected
`participants, either to a web site after which the web site
`will initiate a conference bridge and dial all the partici
`pants, or manually provides them to an operator who
`initiates the calls to the participants.
`These methods are ine?icient, in that they require a con
`ference call requester or party to the conference call to manu
`ally inform either the parties to the conference call, or the
`conference bridge itself, of parameters, passwords, and phone
`numbers for the call.
`Instant messaging (hereafter “IM”) systems employ a cli
`ent-server model on Internet protocol (hereafter “IP”) net
`works to deliver text chat and other information to distributed
`users in real-time. Instant Messaging client software may be
`loaded onto a user’s workstation or may be used in a web
`browser, and may allow a user to log into a remote Instant
`Messaging server. Once a user has logged in, business rules
`may be used to determine which other users are available to
`communicate with the ?rst user in the instant messaging
`system. Many IM systems allow users to create lists of other
`users that they commonly communicate with. When a user in
`such a list logs into the IM system, the server informs the list
`owner that a user in their list has logged on and is available to
`chat. In addition, Instant Messaging systems provide direc
`tory services that permit the users to search for another user.
`Once a user has the address of a second user, the ?rst user can
`request a collaborative chat session with the second user. The
`second user can choose to either accept or reject the chat
`session. After the session has been accepted, the users may be
`able to communicate in a private or public chat session by
`typing text messages to one another. The message can be
`either transmitted through a central server, or directly
`between users (peer to peer) once the ?rst user has determined
`the availability of the second user from the IM system. These
`chat sessions may take place over an unsecured IP network.
`Further extensions of IM allow multiple participants to be
`involved in a chat session.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention may use a communications channel
`established through an instant messaging service to transmit
`a request to initiate a conference call from a network access
`device associated with a conference call requester to a con
`ference call server. The conference call server, upon receiving
`the request, may initiate the formation of a conference bridge
`a conference call between the conference call requester and
`one or more call participants.
`In a ?rst embodiment, the present invention may be embod
`ied in a method for initiating a conference call, including the
`steps of providing a conference call server; providing a con
`ference call requester with a network accessible device com
`municable with an instant messaging service; generating a
`conference call request by the conference call requester;
`transmitting the call request from the call requester to the
`conference call server; receiving the call request at the con
`ference call server; parsing the conference call request to
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`determine parameters associated with a requested conference
`call; and initiating a conference call in accordance with
`parameters associated with the requested conference call. The
`instant messaging service may be adapted to communicate
`conference call request information with the conference call
`server.
`The present invention may further use the presence com
`ponent of an instant messaging system to determine whether
`prospective attendees are available for a conference call
`through this presence with the instant messaging service, then
`using stored information that includes an address for a party,
`either through an IM channel or at a speci?c phone number or
`VOIP address, create the ability for instant messaging users to
`immediately create any combination of PSTN, Cellular, and
`VOIP conference calls between users some of whom may be
`in instant messaging sessions, and without the necessity of
`each user to dial a telephone number or having the host look
`up the phone number of each participant in order to place an
`outbound telephone call. The invention may collect, through
`a variety of means, the information needed to join those users
`into a telephone conference call, pass the dialing information
`and other parameters to a central server, and send an invitation
`to each participant in advance of placing the call. The central
`server may directly or indirectly establish a conference
`bridge, initiate a series of outbound calls to each of the
`selected users from the instant messaging session, and seam
`lessly join those users in a conference call using a conference
`bridge. Via the instant messaging service, the conference call
`initiator may be able to see, via presence awareness, whether
`one of more additional users with whom he wishes to confer
`ence are available, and may invite these users to the call either
`through similar means, or by passing information to those
`users about how to connect to a call. Optionally, and at the
`users discretion, the central server can also add a “silent” user
`which is a recording device, to the conference bridge, record
`the call, and at the conclusion of the call pass the recorded
`voice transcript back to the Instant Messaging Server for
`archiving purposes. Additionally, using the instant messaging
`interface and based upon the conference server capabilities,
`the call initiator may apply certain business rules to various
`participants in the call, such as muting or dropping that par
`ticipant from the call, archiving the participants telephone
`numbers, call duration, and call set-up parameters.
`
`FIGURES
`
`FIG. 1 shows a ?owchart of the initiation of a conference
`call according to the present invention.
`FIG. 2 shows a more comprehensive illustrative ?owchart
`of the initiation of a conference call according to the present
`invention.
`FIG. 3 shows a notional ?owchart of the initiation of a
`conference call according to the present invention, in an envi
`ronment in which each prospective caller has access to a
`network access device.
`FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a system for accom
`plishing the initiation of conference calls according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 5 illustrates a notional network access device display
`through which a conference call may be initiated.
`FIG. 6 shows a notional network access device display
`through which conference call targets may be selected.
`FIG. 7 shows a notional network access device display
`identifying parameters associated with a potential target for a
`conference call initiated according to the present invention.
`FIG. 8 shows a notional network access device display
`identifying targets previously involved in conference calls
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`US 7,804,948 B2
`
`5
`Who are potentially available for a conference call, including
`identi?cation of an availability status for each target Where
`such potential target has an ongoing presence With the instant
`messaging service.
`FIG. 9 shoWs a notional network access device display
`identifying targets previously involved in conference calls
`Who are potentially available for a conference call, ?ltered to
`display potential targets having access to application sharing
`capabilities.
`FIG. 10 shoWs a notional netWork access device display
`identifying targets previously involved in conference calls
`Who are potentially available for a conference call, ?ltered to
`display only potential targets for Which an e-mail client con
`tact information is available.
`FIG. 11 shoWs a notional netWork access device display
`alloWing retrieval of parameters associated With a previous
`conference call.
`FIG. 12 shoWs an alternate system and process for initiat
`ing conference calls according to the present invention.
`FIG. 13 shoWs a notional netWork access device display for
`displaying conference call management parameters to a con
`ference call requester.
`FIG. 14 shoWs a notional netWork access device display for
`displaying conference call management parameters associ
`ated With a particular conference call.
`FIG. 15 shoWs an alternate process for initiating confer
`ence calls according to the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`The folloWing de?nitions are provided to more readily
`describe the present invention, and are not intended to limit
`the scope of the claims:
`Access Authorization is the means by Which a connection
`and/ or request for service is authenticated to permit a party to
`access a service. There are many Ways to authenticate a user,
`including, but not limited to, sign on ID’s and passWords,
`digital signatures, electronic keycards, and biometric devices.
`A NetWorkAccess Device (hereafter “NAD”) is any device
`capable of communicating over a netWork to one or more
`other Network Access Devices using a common protocol.
`Such NADs can include but are not limited to computers,
`servers, Workstations, Internet appliances, terminals, hosts,
`personal digital assistants (hereafter “PDAs”), and digital
`cellular telephones.
`Encryption is the transformation of data into a form that
`cannot be read or understood Without the use of a decryption
`algorithm. The purpose of encryption is to minimiZe the abil
`ity of third parties (Who are not desired to participate in a
`conference call) to understand the contents of a message.
`Decryption is the reverse of encryption; it is the transfor
`mation of encrypted data back into a readable form.
`AddressiThis is the identi?er for Where a participant to a
`conference call may be contacted, and may be, but is not
`limited to, a PSTN or cellular phone number, such as anANI,
`or a unique identi?er associated With a voice over Internet
`protocol communications path.
`ANIiAutomatic Number Identi?eriThis is the direct
`phone number of a call participant, and is typically the num
`ber at Which a person may be directly dialed.
`Conference BridgeiSWitching circuitry used to intercon
`nect tWo or more communications paths connected to partici
`pants to alloW simultaneous conversations betWeen the par
`ticipants.
`Conference CalliA communication betWeen tWo or more
`parties Who are disparately located, using a connection alloW
`ing the transmission of audible, verbal, or visual data, or a
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`combination thereof, including videoconferencing in Which
`participants are visible to other participants as Well as able to
`verbally communicate With each other.
`PSTNiThe voice netWorks are referred to as a publicly
`sWitched telephone netWork (PSTN) and its related services.
`VOIPiVoice over Internet Protocol
`As shoWn in FIG. 1, the core of the present invention is the
`use of instant messaging to trigger initiation of a host initiated
`conference call. The ?rst step is providing 102 a conference
`call server. The conference call server may be connected to a
`netWork, such as an Internet protocol based netWork. The
`conference call server may have the ability to receive instant
`messenger messages requesting initiation of a conference
`call. The conference call server may have one or more ports
`for connecting participants, such as by a VOIP path, or
`through a telephonic netWork. Connection of tWo or more
`paths alloWs the formation of a conference bridge. Alter
`nately, the conference server may have stored information
`identifying one or more conference bridges d