Avaya Inc.

Vipul Kishore Lalka

Ezra Raphael Gilbert

Venkat R Gilakattula

David Gray Boyer

Shabbir Amirali Khakoo

Prem Sumetpong

Levent Sasmazel

A method and apparatus are provided that evaluate a number of different sources of presence information to determine a presence status of a user. The presence status of a user is determined by obtaining presence information from a plurality of presence data stores; translating the obtained presence information from at least one of the presence data stores into a standard format; and determining the presence status of the user based on the obtained presence information. Presence information can also be based on user-specified rules. Presence information is obtained from a number of presence data stores and the presence status of a user is determined based on one or more rules that are applied to the obtained presence information. The rules may include, for example, aggregation rules that determines the presence status based on one or more of the obtained presence information or filter rules that determine who may receive the presence status.

Programmable presence proxy for determining a presence status of a user

A conferencing system is disclosed in which a participant to a conference call can program the embodiment to listen for one or more 'keywords' in the conference call. The keywords might be a participant's name or words associated with him or her or words associated with his or her area of knowledge. The embodiments uses speech recognition technology to listen for those words. When the embodiments detects that those words have been spoken, the embodiment alerts the participant&#x2014;using audible, visual, and/or tactile signals&#x2014;that the participant's attention to the call is warranted. When the keywords are chosen wisely, the benefit can be great.

Keyword alerting in conference calls

Growing community of inventors

Highland Park, NJ, United States of America

Vipul Kishore Lalka