Polycom, Inc.

Voyant Technologies, Inc.

Jeffrey Adams

Eric Jay Nylander

Warren Edward Baxley

Jozef Saniga

Thomas Edward Yackey

William Paul Ernstrom

Douglas Earl Harbert

George David

Joanne Kubischta

Chad Alexander

Anna Lea Gellatly

Matt Parker

James Brennan

Damian Diaz

Ryan Hermanson

A technique for merging conference session dialogs allows presenting content and media streams from a non-Skype endpoint to a Skype multipoint control unit (MCU), so that they present a single caller in a conference with both media and content. A signaling adapter intercepts session dialogs and merges or other modifies. When adding the non-Skype endpoint, requests from a content server are dropped while requests from the MCU handling non-Skype media streams are forwarded to the Skype MCU. Responses to the request from the MCU are also forwarded to the content server. When creating subscription dialogs, requests from the content server are modified to appear as if they came from the MCU, while responses go back to the proper requester. Conference notifications are forked to go to both the content server and the MCU. Because Skype uses separate media and content dialogs, merging of audio/video and content dialogs may be omitted. By merging dialogs, user experience is improved.

Reverse call forking

A non-Skype multipoint control unit (MCU) is configured to operate differently for handling incoming streams from endpoints and outgoing streams from a Skype multipoint control unit. When passing incoming streams from non-Skype endpoints to a Skype conference, the non-Skype MCU acts as a gateway, passing the streams to Skype MCU as if they were coming from Skype endpoints. When receiving outgoing streams from Skype MCU, the non-Skype MCU acts as an MCU, transcoding, compositing, and scaling streams into continuous presence layouts for delivery to the non-Skype endpoints. Thus, non-Skype endpoints can participate in Skype conferences as if they were Skype endpoints, allowing a better user experience for both Skype endpoints and non-Skype endpoints.

Direction dependent MCU/gateway

A method for dynamically allocating MCU resources during a multipoint network event such as a conference call. The method determines the number of MCU resources to allocate for the start of the multipoint network event and then at each of a plurality of modeling intervals during the multipoint event adjusts the number of allocated MCU resources based upon actual inbound users. Self-tuning of the allocation of MCU resources for multipoint events occurs in advance of use by providing a look ahead allocation of resources based on what is likely to be needed in the future for a conferencing event. The number of multipoint events occurring within a tuning interval are counted. The number of MCU resources actually utilized during each multipoint event are accumulated and then a probability value is determined for future use of MCU resources for an upcoming multipoint event.

Self-tuning statistical resource allocation for multipoint network events

A local conferencing exchange subscriber line conferencing method using a series of input signals from the phone of a subscriber, such as a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) sequence of key inputs starting with a star key input, to initiate the conference by enabling a termination attempt trigger. The conference is set up in a bridge and the phone of the subscriber is connected to the bridge. All subsequent callers to the subscriber's phone number at the local exchange carrier are routed and connected to the conference at the bridge. When the conference call ends, the subscriber's phone is returned to normal service.

Local exchange subscriber line conferencing method

A conferencing method for providing reservation-less instant group conferencing. A subscriber dials in a conference code and a group code in his/her phone. The input signal is received in the switch serving the phone on sensing the conference code activates a trigger which results in communications with a conferencing system. The conference call is set up in a conferencing bridge and the phone of the subscriber is routed to the conferencing bridge. The conferencing system using group code obtains a group of phone numbers of participants from a database and calls each participant and connects each call participant to the conference call. Subscriber setting lists of participants and phone numbers in advance of the conference call with Internet access to the database.

Method for reservation-less instant group conferencing

Growing community of inventors

Lafayette, CO, United States of America

Jeffrey Adams