FR2990821A1 - Method for management of person to e.g. predetermined electronic conference, hosted on server, involves allowing server to establish conference host between received and predetermined conference calls to reach predetermined conference - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves providing a connection of a person (u1) at a server (10) via a communication apparatus (t1) e.g. smart phone. A reference of a call (c1) of a person is created beforehand by another server (20). A greeting message (mess) is transmitted in an iterative manner. The latter server is allowed to establish a conference host (pconf) between a received conference call (conf1) and a predetermined conference call (conf2) so as allow the person to reach the predetermined conference. The greeting message is allowed to specify an identifier (ID). Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a computer program comprising instructions for performing a method for management of a person (2) a recording medium with instructions for performing the method for management of the person (3) a data processing entity (4) a method for processing a call (5) a computer program comprising instructions for performing the call processing method (6) a recording medium with instructions for performing the call processing method.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ACCESSING AN ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE The subject of the present invention relates to the field of teleconferences such as for example electronic conferences or online conferences. The object of the present invention makes it possible to simplify the access of persons wishing to participate or intervene in such conferences, this in particular without affecting the performance of the network on which such conferences are hosted. The object of the present invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the field of conferences bringing together a large number of participants and / or stakeholders, including conferences bringing together several hundred or even thousands of participants and / or stakeholders. An electronic conference within the meaning of the present invention (or online conference) means throughout the description that follows any type of conference 15 hosted on a computer network such as for example a conference call, or a video conference, or a conference on the Internet network of the "webinar" type (term resulting from the contraction of the terms "web" and "seminar") or event conference. Conventionally, teleconferencing services deployed are divided into two phases: a first so-called hosting phase and a second so-called mixing phase. The general principle of such a deployment is as follows: a person who wishes to participate in an electronic conference connects to a server; following this connection, a greeting is issued to him personally. During this phase, the person wishing to join the conference acquires the greeting, and generally an identification code is requested. This code can consist, according to conference services, either of a conference identifier or of a code for access to a known conference. Then, after identification, comes the mixing phase. During this phase, the voice of the person is mixed with those of the other participants. The solutions that exist today to manage this phase of reception and this phase of mixing are based on the following technology: As stated above, the reception is managed participant by participant and in a personalized way during each connection to the server. There are as many hosting processes on the server as there are people wishing to participate in the conference.

More precisely, after connecting the person to the service, the reception is entrusted to a host server of the type for example IVR for "Interactive Voice Response" which is responsible for launching a dedicated process to manage the reception of each participant. In this hosting phase, the server that hosts the service logic, sends the incoming call from the participant to the host server. This server then allocates a process dedicated to the participant to host this participant: a greeting is issued to the participant and the server collects the identification code transmitted by the participant. Once the participant's reception is completed, the participant is transferred to a conference bridge for mixing his voice: The conferences and the voice mixing are managed by a conference server of the MCU type for "Multipoint Control Unit". In this mixing phase, the conference server allocates a dedicated process for mixing the conference. This technology to manage the electronic conferences and in particular to manage the reception phase gives a good flexibility to the server in the management of its media servers: such a technology is particularly adapted to the "small" conferences which comprise less than a dozen participants . The Applicant submits that such technology is generally deployed on physical servers for which computing resources and memory are not limiting factors. Nevertheless, such a technology is not suitable when it comes to managing conferences of several tens or even hundreds or thousands of participants and / or stakeholders. Indeed, with the technology described above, there is a multiplication of hospitality processes when many people want to participate in the conference; this significantly degrades the performance of the voice servers.

In addition, as part of a deployment of a cloud or cloud-based conference service, it is not possible to use such a technology for reasons of limited computing resources and memory. . The object of the present invention is therefore to improve the current situation described above. For this purpose, the object of the present invention concerns, according to a first aspect, a method of managing the access of one or more persons to a predetermined electronic conference, this electronic conference being hosted on a second server, also called conference server.

In the context of the present invention, it is understood that this or these persons wanting to participate in the conference are each provided with a communication device adapted to connect to a first server, also called application server. For the purposes of the present invention, the term "communication apparatus" refers to any digital device capable of connecting to a server such as, for example, a mobile phone preferably of the "Smartphone" type, a digital tablet, a computer, etc. According to the present invention, the access management method comprises a preliminary creation step. During this step, the second server creates at least one welcome conference that is dedicated to the home. This host conference iteratively transmits a greeting message. Advantageously, following a connection of at least one person to the first server via his communication device, the management method according to the present invention comprises an access step during which the second server establishes a conference bridge between the conference reception and the predetermined conference, in order to allow said at least one person to access the conference. This hosting conference hosted by the second server, which is characteristic of the present invention, simultaneously manages the reception of several people connecting to the service to access the conference. We note here that the mixing process in this host conference is obviously not planned: people connected to the host conference can only listen to the voice greeting.

Thus, thanks to this succession of technical steps, characteristic of the present invention, the method described above allows a shared management of the reception of people to access a conference, which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.

Preferably, the greeting specifies that an identifier is required to allow the person or persons to access the predetermined conference. In this case, the management method according to the present invention comprises an identification step during which an identifier transmitted by the person via his communication device is received by the second server for verification on the first or the second server. Such an identification step makes it possible to secure access to a conference, especially when only a limited number of determined persons can have access to the conference. According to the present invention, this identifier consists of at least one digital signal transmitted by the communication apparatus; preferably, it may be for example a signal generated by the numeric keys of the communication device. Advantageously, this identifier consists of a digital signal containing identification information relating to the predetermined conference or a digital personal access code containing identification information allowing personal access to the conference. According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, during the identification step, the identifier received by the second server is sent to the first server for verification.

Advantageously, following the access step and possibly depending on the rights attributed to the person, the management method according to the present invention comprises a mixing step during which the audio signal relating to the voice of the person is mixed. with the audio signals relating to the respective voices of the other persons participating in said conference.

This mix allows a person to participate in the conference. It is understood here that this participation can be active or passive, this can be determined in particular according to the identifier. In the case of active participation, we also speak of intervention: it is for example a person who speaks in the conference, or asks questions.

Optionally, a request step can be provided to the first server that manages the service logic to request intervention in the conference. Correlatively, the object of the present invention relates to a first computer program which includes instructions adapted to the execution of the steps of the management method as described above, this in particular when this first computer program is executed. by a computer. Such a computer program can use any programming language, and be in the form of a source code, an object code, or an intermediate code between a source code and an object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other desirable form. Similarly, the subject of the present invention relates to a first computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a computer program comprising instructions for executing the steps of the management method as described above. .

On the one hand, the recording medium can be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD-ROM or a microelectronic circuit-type ROM, or a magnetic recording means, for example a diskette of the type " floppy disc "or a hard drive. On the other hand, this recording medium can also be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, such a signal can be conveyed via an electric or optical cable, by conventional radio or radio or by self-directed laser beam or by other ways. The computer program according to the invention can in particular be downloaded to an Internet type network. Alternatively, the recording medium may be an integrated circuit in which the computer program is incorporated, the integrated circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the method in question. The subject of the present invention also relates to an access management IT entity configured to implement the various steps of the management method described above. More specifically, the invention relates to a computer entity for managing access to an electronic conference of at least one person provided with a communication device able to connect to a first server, said entity comprising a second server, still called conference server. Advantageously, the second server comprises: a conference hosting means that is configured to host at least one electronic conference; a creation means that is configured to create at least one conference conference on the conference hosting means; reception dedicated to the reception and iteratively transmitting a greeting message, and - access means which is configured to establish, following the return of the call of the said at least one person from the first server to the conference call. host, a conference bridge between the host conference and a predetermined electronic conference hosted on the hosting means, in order to allow said at least one person to access this predetermined conference. Advantageously, the greeting specifies that an identifier is required to allow said at least one person to access the predetermined conference. In this case, the second server comprises an identification means which is configured to receive an identifier transmitted by said at least one person via the communication device.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the identification means is configured to send the identifier to the first server for verification. Alternatively, the identification means itself performs verification of the identifier.

Advantageously, the second server comprises a mixing means which is configured to mix the audio signal relating to the voice of said at least one person with the audio signals relating to the respective voices of the other persons participating in the conference. The object according to the present invention relates, in another aspect, to a method of processing at least one call from at least one person provided with a communication device able to connect to a first server. According to the present invention, the processing method comprises, following a connection of said at least one person to the first server via the communication device, a step of returning the call of said at least one person to a conference of home created beforehand by a second server, this host conference iteratively emitting a greeting. This forwarding step then allows the access of said at least one person to a predetermined electronic conference hosted on the second server.

By optimizing the IT resources used to manage the reception of participants, access to teleconferencing can be implemented on a cloud or "cloud". According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the processing method comprises a step of receiving an identifier transmitted by the second server for verification. Correlatively, the object of the present invention relates to a second computer program comprising instructions adapted to perform the steps of the processing method as described above, especially when the computer program is executed by a computer. .

The subject of the present invention also relates to a second computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a second computer program comprising instructions for performing the steps of the processing method as described above. This computer program and recording medium have the same characteristics as those described above. The object of the present invention relates finally to a computing entity for processing at least one call. According to the present invention, the computing processing entity comprises a first server comprising: a reception means which is configured to receive at least one call from at least one person provided with a communication device able to connect to the first server, and - a return means which is configured to return, following a connection of said at least one person to the first server, said at least one call on a host conference which is previously created by a second server and which iteratively transmits a greeting message. This succession of processing steps is intended to allow the access of said at least one person to a predetermined electronic conference hosted on the second server.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the computing processing entity comprises a verification means which is configured to check an identifier transmitted by the second server, and to return the result of this verification to the second server to enable the establishing a conference bridge between the host conference and the predetermined electronic conference. This sending of identifier for verification to the first server is characteristic of the present invention insofar as all the processing relating to the service logic is managed exclusively on the first server.

It is also envisioned that the first server is configured to allow the management of human rights in the conference, for example by allowing or not allowing the person to intervene actively during the conference; this management can be performed including taking into account the identification information contained in the digital signal relating to the identifier.

Thus, the various IT entities and the management and processing methods described above offer optimized management of the reception of conference participants, which allows the organization of conferences that can bring together more than one hundred participants. The solution proposed above also makes it possible to deploy the service on a cloud or "cloud" because of its low consumption of computing resources. Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description below, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 2, which illustrate an example of embodiment without any limiting character and in which: FIG. schematically a management system for access to an electronic conference according to an advantageous embodiment; FIG. 2 represents a flowchart illustrating the access management method according to an advantageous exemplary embodiment. The methods of management and processing as well as the corresponding computer entities, in accordance with an advantageous exemplary embodiment of the present invention, will now be described in the following with reference to Figures 1 to 2.

Allowing the access management of several tens or even hundreds (or thousands) of participants in an electronic conference is one of the objectives of the present invention. Indeed, as stated above, the management of such a conference with the solutions of the state of the art is at the expense of the performance of voice servers. To remedy this problem, the object of the present invention proposes a computing processing entity 200 and a management computing entity 100 configured to allow access for at least one person ul to a predetermined electronic conference conf2. The invention indeed comprises a processing phase and an access management phase that are implemented by the computer entities 100 and 200. The example illustrated in FIG. 1 refers to a single person ul. It will be understood that this nonlimiting example may apply equally to a plurality of persons. The invention is based on the shared management of the reception of the participants in a predetermined electronic conference conf2. For this purpose, in the example described here, the management computer entity 100 comprises a second server or conference server 20.

In the example described here, the conference server 20 comprises an M3 hosting means configured to host one or more conferences. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conf2 conference is thus hosted on this M3 hosting means. In the example described here, this conf2 conference is an event-type videoconferencing: It may be for example a person such as a company executive or a political figure who wishes to address a large number of people. people simultaneously. It is possible to imagine that, in the context of such a conference conf2, persons such as shareholders, journalists or any other persons have the opportunity to intervene in the conf2 conference for example to ask a question, to complete a about or debate on a subject. At this conference conf2, other people, said passive, will only listen.

According to the present invention, the conference server 20 comprises an authoring means M4 which is configured to create during a preliminary creation step SO a home conference confl. This confl hosting conference is hosted by the M3 hosting means on the conference server 20.

This conference home confl, which is characteristic of the present invention, is dedicated exclusively to the reception of people ul. It is noted here that this reception can be a voice reception for a conference call, but can also be a video reception for a videoconference. Of course other types of reception are also conceivable in the context of the present invention, namely a reception by image, by slideshow, etc. In the example described here, this home conference confl iteratively transmits a mess message in which it is specified that an identifier ID is required to allow the person ul to access conf2 conference. The fact that a mess message is sent simultaneously on a conference server 20 to all persons w wishing to join the conf2 conference is characteristic of the present invention. In the example described here, all ul people who wish to participate or intervene conf2 conference and who have a communication device tl able to connect to a first server or application server 10 can then register and / or create an account to access the service according to the present invention (not shown here). Following this registration and / or account creation, each person ul must connect to the application server 10 of the computing processing entity 200 via its communication device tl, this is done during a step S1. In the example described here, to initiate such a media session, the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is used in IMS. The application server 10 comprises a reception means M1 for receiving such calls cl from the persons ul.

Following this connection 51, the application server 10 returns, during a return step S2, the call cl of the person ul on the conference home confl, this via the means of return M2.

Each key call from the ul persons is therefore sent back to the conference server 20 for the home conference confl. So, every person ul can take notice of the mess message issued. This return S2 of each call from the application server 10 to the conference server 20 is characteristic of the present invention. It follows in the example described herein an identification S3 managed by an identification means M5 of the conference server 20 during which the person ul transmits his ID ID to the conference server 20, this through the intermediary of keys of his telecommunication apparatus tl. This identification is done for example by receiving the DTMF signal for "Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency" issued by the device tl. In the example described here, this identifier ID is in the form of a digital signal comprising identification information relating to the person ul and conf2 conference.

In the example described here, this identifier ID is sent to the application server 10 for verification S4. Indeed, the application server 10 is configured to manage all the service logic of the system and is capable for example of managing the access rights conf2 conference and rights for people to intervene or not to the conf2 conference.

This processing is performed by the verification means M7 of the server 10. According to the results of this identification S4, the conference server 20 comprises an access means M6 which establishes during an access step S5 a conference bridge pconf between the confl conference and the conf2 conference. This pconf conference bridge allows the ul person access to conference conf2. This pconf conference bridge starts an S6 mixing process for mixing the voicel audio signal relating to the voice of each person ul with the audio signals relating to the respective voices of the other persons participating in the conference conf2; this mixing process which can be a function of the rights of each person 30 μl is provided by an M8 mixing means consisting in the example described here in computer processing means audio. This processing and access management by the computer entities 100 and 200 are possible by the succession of technical steps described above which are executed respectively by a first PG1 and a second PG2 computer programs each contained on a first C11 and a second C1 recording media respectively included in the management computer entity 100 and in the computing processing entity 200 and for controlling each of the means described above.

Thus, the invention described above is based on an optimization of the reception phase by performing a group reception of participants on a special session of the conference server. With the present invention, instead of making a dedicated host for each participant, ul people wishing to participate in conf2 conference are grouped and are returned to the conference server 20 which hosts a global confl conflated conference. This confl conferring conference transmits a loop mess message, and any new person arriving on the confl conference becomes aware of this message, and after identification, a pconf conference bridge allows him access to the conf2 conference. It should be observed that this detailed description relates to a particular embodiment of the present invention, but in no case this description is of any nature limiting to the subject of the invention; on the contrary, its purpose is to remove any imprecision or misinterpretation of the claims that follow.

Claims (14)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method for managing the access of at least one person (ul) to a predetermined electronic conference (conf2) hosted on a second server (20), said at least one person (ul) being provided with a communication device ( tl) adapted to connect to a first server (10), characterized in that, following a connection (Si) of said at least one person (ul) to the first server (10) via the communication device (tl) and forwarding (S2) the call (cl) of said at least one person (ul) to a home conference (confl) previously created by the second server (20) and iteratively transmitting a greeting message (mess), it comprises an access step (S5) during which the second server (20) establishes a conference bridge (pconf) between the home conference (confl) and the predetermined conference (conf2) in order to allowing said at least one person (ul) to access said predetermined conference (conf2). The method according to claim 1, the greeting (mess) specifying that an identifier (ID) is required to allow said at least one person (ul) to access the predetermined conference (conf2), characterized in that it comprises an identification step (S3) during which an identifier (ID) transmitted by said at least one person (ul) via the communication device (tl) is received by the second server (20) for checking on the first (10) or the second (20) server. 3. Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises, following the access step (S5), a mixing step (S6) during which the audio signal (voicel ) relating to the voice of said at least one person (ul) is mixed with the audio signals relating to the respective voices of the other persons participating in said conference. A computer program (PG1) having instructions adapted for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 when said computer program (PG1) is executed by a computer. 5. Recording medium (CI1) readable by a computer on which is recorded a computer program (PG1) comprising instructions for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 6. Computer entity for managing the access (100) to an electronic conference (conf2) of at least one person (ul) equipped with a communication device (Ti) able to connect to a first server (10) characterized in that it comprises a second server (20) comprising: - a conference hosting means (M3) configured to host at least one electronic conference (confl, conf2), - a creation means (M4) configured to create on the conference hosting means (M3) at least one welcoming conference (confl) dedicated to the reception and iteratively emitting a greeting (mess), and - a means of access (M6) ) configured to establish, following the return of the call (cl) of said at least one person from the first server (10) to the host conference (confl), a conference bridge (pconf) between the host conference (confl) and a predetermined electronic conference (conf2) hosted on the hosting means (M3) so to allow said at least one person (ul) to access said predetermined conference (conf2). The computer entity (100) according to claim 6, the greeting (mess) specifying that an identifier (ID) is required to allow said at least one person (ul) to access the predetermined conference (conf2 ), characterized in that the second server (20) comprises an identification means (M5) configured to receive an identifier (ID) transmitted by said at least one person (U1) via the communication device (Ti) for verification on the first (10) or the second (20) server. 8. computer entity (100) according to any one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the second server (20) comprises a mixing means (M8) configured to mix the audio signal (voicel) relative to the voice of said at least one person (ul) with the audio signals relating to the respective voices of the other persons participating in the conference (conf2). 9. Method for processing at least one call (cl) from at least one person (ul) provided with a communication device (tl) able to connect to a first server (10), characterized in that following a connection (Si) of said at least one person (ul) to the first server (10) via the communication device (tl), it comprises a step of returning (S2) said at least one call (cl) of said at least one person (ul) on a home conference (confl) previously created by a second server (20) and iteratively transmitting a greeting message (mess) to allow access of said at least one person (ul) at a predetermined electronic conference (conf2) hosted on the second server (20). 10. Processing method according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a step of receiving an identifier (ID) transmitted by the second server (20) for verification. A computer program (PG2) having instructions adapted for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 9 or 10 when said computer program (PG2) is executed by a computer. 12. A computer-readable recording medium (Cl2) on which is recorded a computer program (PG2) comprising instructions for carrying out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 9 or 10. Computer processing entity (200) of at least one call (cl), characterized in that it comprises a first server (10) comprising: a reception means (M1) configured to receive at least one call (cl) from at least one person (ul) provided with a communication device (tl) adapted to connect to the first server (10), and - a return means (M2) configured to return, following a connection of said at least one person (ul) to the first server (10), said at least one call (cl) on a home conference (confl) previously created by a second server (20) and iteratively transmitting a greeting (mess) to allow access of said at least one person (ul) to a predetermined electronic conference (conf2) hosted on the second server (20). 14. computer processing entity (200) according to claim 13, characterized in that it comprises a verification means (M7) configured to check an identifier (ID) transmitted by the second server (20), and to return the result from this check to the second server (20) to allow the establishment of a conference bridge (pconf) between the home conference (confl) and the predetermined electronic conference (conf2).