A live audio conference (e.g. a phone call or voice-over-IP session) is frequently used as a means of communication by human users. Although people rely on this form of communication at multiple times of a day, a contacting user is typically not aware of the availability constraints of the contacted user before the call is attempted (such as whether the contacted user is participating in an ongoing meeting, located in a noisy environment, involved in a current activity, etc.). As a result, time and effort is often spent in exchanging back-and-forth communications between people (or human assistants) to identify the optimal time for a call or session—often through the manual exchange of verbal messages or digitally written communications.
Some computerized programs provide event scheduling features that consider a contacted user's calendar status and constraints. However, existing digital assistant solutions and calling applications often perform this determination using outdated or incomplete information. As a result, many types of scheduling activities are still performed manually with human intervention. This requires extra effort for the user, inefficiencies with communication devices and networks, and ultimately, does not avoid missed communication opportunities.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds