# US 2014/0207510 A1 · Reducing meeting travel > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0207510 A1 - Document ID: US20140207510A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/153,749 - Filed: 2014-01-13 - Published: 2014-07-24 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-18 - Assignees: Target Brands, Inc. - Applicants: Target Brands, Inc. - Inventors: Christopner Paul Valle - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140207510A1 ## CPC - G06Q 10/1093: Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A computing device retrieves meeting data from an electronic scheduling system. The meeting data includes a plurality of meetings, each of which is associated with a meeting location in a building including a plurality of floors and at least one elevator, a period of time, and one or more participants. The computing device determines a participant location for each participant associated with each of the meetings. The computing device determines a meeting travel metric for each of the meetings based on the participant locations and the meeting location of the meeting. The computing device causes the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with one or more of the meetings based on the meeting travel metric determined for each of the one or more of the meetings. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: retrieving, by a computing device, meeting data from an electronic scheduling system, wherein the meeting data comprises a plurality of meetings, each of which is associated with a meeting location in a building including a plurality of floors and at least one elevator, a period of time, and one or more participants; determining, by the computing device, a participant location for each participant associated with each of the meetings; determining, by the computing device, a meeting travel metric for each of the meetings based on the participant locations and the meeting location of the meeting, wherein the meeting travel metric is indicative of a distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location, and wherein the distance is based at least in part on a number of floors the participant travels from the participant location to the meeting location to attend the meeting; and causing, by the computing device, the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with one or more of the meetings based on the meeting travel metric determined for each of the one or more of the meetings. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the participant location comprises a location of a first meeting of the plurality of meetings at which the participant is anticipated to be prior to a second meeting of the plurality of meetings. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining, by the computing device, the participant location for each participant comprises analyzing, by the computing device, the meeting data to determine the location of the first meeting at which the meeting data indicates the participant is scheduled to be prior to the second meeting. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining, by the computing device, the participant location for each participant comprises determining, by the computing device, a default workspace of the participant in the building. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the default workspace comprises at least one of an office or a cubicle located on one of the floors of the building. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the computing device, the meeting travel metric comprises: determining, by the computing device, the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location; and summing, by the computing device, the distances between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location to determine a total meeting travel distance. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein causing, by the computing device, the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with one or more of the meetings comprises: determining, by the computing device, a meeting of the plurality of meetings that comprises the greatest total meeting travel distance; determining, by the computing device, a new meeting location for the meeting based on a new total meeting travel distance comprising a sum of distances between each participant location of each participant and the new meeting location, wherein the new total meeting travel distance is less than the total meeting travel distance; and causing, by the computing device, the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with the meeting to the new meeting location. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the building comprises a plurality of banks of elevators, wherein each of the banks of elevators is configured to service a range of the floors of the building, and wherein determining, by the computing device, the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location comprises: determining, by the computing device, that the participant location of at least one participant is serviced by a first one of the banks of elevators and the meeting location is serviced by a second one of the banks of elevators that is different than the first one of the banks of the elevators; determining, by the computing device, a first number of floors between the participant location of the at least one participant and a location serviced by both the first one of the banks of elevators and the second one of the banks of elevators; determining, by the computing device, a second number of floors between the meeting location and the location serviced by both the first one of the banks of elevators and the second one of the banks of elevators; and summing, by the computing device, the first number of floors and the second number of floors. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the building comprises a plurality of banks of elevators, wherein each of the banks of elevators is configured to service a range of the floors of the building, and wherein determining, by the computing device, the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location comprises: determining, by the computing device, that the participant location of at least one participant is serviced by a first one of the banks of elevators and the meeting location is serviced by a second one of the banks of elevators that is different than the first one of the banks of the elevators; determining, by the computing device, that a number of floors between the participant location of the at least one participant and the meeting location is less than or equal to a walk distance threshold associated with the at least one participant, wherein the walk distance threshold comprises a maximum number of floors the at least one participant will walk between without using an elevator in the building; and setting, by the computing device, the distance between the participant location of the at least one participant and the meeting location as the number of floors between the participant location of the at least one participant and the meeting location. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the meeting data retrieved from the scheduling system comprises the walk distance threshold for the at least one participant. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising retrieving, by the computing device, the walk distance threshold for the at least one participant from a data source storing data associated with the one or more participants associated with each of the meetings. ### Claim 12 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein determining, by the computing device, the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location comprises determining, by the computing device, a number of floors between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the computing device, the meeting travel metric comprises: determining, by the computing device, an estimated time to travel the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location; and summing, by the computing device, the estimated times to travel the distances between each participant location. of each participant and the meeting location to determine a total meeting travel time. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein causing, by the computing device, the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with one or more of the meetings comprises: determining, by the computing device, a meeting of the plurality of meetings that comprises the greatest total meeting travel time; determining, by the computing device, a new meeting location for the meeting based on a new total meeting travel time comprising a sum of estimated travel times to travel distances between each participant location of each participant and the new meeting location, wherein the new total meeting travel time is less than the total meeting travel time; and causing, by the computing device, the scheduling system to change the meeting location associated with the meeting to the new meeting location. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein determining, by the computing device, the estimated time to travel the distance between each participant location of each participant and the meeting location comprises: determining, by the computing device, a wait time comprising an estimate of an amount of time the participant will wait for an elevator; determining, by the computing device, an elevator stops time comprising an estimate of the time the participant will wait in the elevator during one or more elevator stops between the participant location of the participant and the meeting location; and adding, by the computing device, the wait time and the elevator stops time for each participant to the total meeting travel time. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining, by the computing device, a number of floors between the participant location of the participant and the meeting location; determining, by the computing device, a number of elevator stops between the participant location and the meeting location based at least in part on the number of floors, and wherein determining, by the computing device, the elevator stops time comprises multiplying, by the computing device, the number of elevator stops by an estimate of the time the participant will wait in the elevator during one elevator stop. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the computing device, an electronic notification configured to inform the participants of the change of the meeting location associated with the one or more of the meetings based on the meeting travel metric. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the electronic notification comprises at least one of an electronic mail, short message service, or instant messaging system message. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each period of time associated with each meeting comprises a period of time that is greater than or equal to at least one of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour. ### Claim 20 A computing device, comprising: at least one computer-readable storage device; and at least one processor configured to access information stored on the at least one computer-readable storage device and to perform operations comprising: obtaining data from an electronic calendar system that indicates a plurality of electronically scheduled meetings, each of which is associated with a meeting location, a period of time, one or more participants, and a location of each participant from which the participant is required to travel to attend the meeting; determining a new meeting location for one or more of the meetings that reduces travel distance of each of the one or more meetings, wherein the travel distance of each meeting is based on the participant locations and the meeting location; and causing the calendar system to change the meeting location associated with each of the one or more meetings to the new meeting location. ### Claim 21 A computer-readable storage medium that includes instructions that, if executed by a computing device having one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations that include: obtaining meeting data from an electronic calendar system for a plurality of electronically scheduled meetings; determining, for each of the meetings, a meeting location, a period of time, one or more participants, and a location of each participant from which the participant is required to travel to attend the meeting; and iteratively changing the meeting location of each of the meetings and determining travel distance of the meeting based on the participant locations and the meeting location to reduce a total distance that all participants of the meeting are required to travel to attend the meeting.