Automatically establishing conferences from desktop applications over the Internet

A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a desktop calendar application at a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input of conference information at a user's appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
• said desktop calendar application automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• and
• receiving conference confirmation information from the service provider;
• wherein the conference request includes a request for an immediate conference and further comprising said service provider establishing the conference across an audio bridge and wherein receiving conference confirmation information comprises being connected to the audio bridge.

Apparatus for automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer comprising:

• a desktop calendar application;
• at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information at a user's appointment calendar page generated by said desktop calendar application;
• an application interface for said desktop calendar application to automatically invoke a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
• a secondary conference application for receiving conference information, for automatically dialing a conference service provider, for communicating a conference request to the conference service provider, for receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider, and for providing notification of receipt of the conference confirmation information;
• and
• wherein said desktop calendar application is adapted for receiving the user input from the user input interface, for processing the conference information, and for receiving notification of receipt of the conference confirmation information from the secondary application.

A desktop calendar application for a user computer to automatically establish a conference from said desktop application over the Internet comprising:

• at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by said desktop calendar application;
• an application interface for automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information and for receiving conference confirmation information from the secondary application;
• and
• a calendar update component for updating the user appointment calendar based on conference confirmation information.

A desktop calendar application for a user computer to automatically establish a conference from said desktop application over the Internet comprising:

• at least one user input interface for receiving user input of conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by said desktop application;
• an application interface for automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information and for receiving conference confirmation information from the secondary application;
• and
• an alarm component for the desktop application to invoke an alarm function based on the conference confirmation information.

A platform independent secondary conference application at a user computer for automatically establishing a conference from the user computer over the Internet comprising:

• an interface component for receiving user input conference information to a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
• a dialer component for automatically dialing over the Internet to a conference service provider and for communicating conference information to the conference service provider;
• a receiver for receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• a conference monitoring component for monitoring a conference established based on the conference confirmation information.

A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• providing notification from said secondary application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.

A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, wherein the user computer maintains a user appointment calendar, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page generated by a desktop calendar application;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• updating the appointment calendar with the conference confirmation information.

A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, wherein the user computer has an alarm function, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a desktop calendar application;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• invoking the alarm function based on the conference confirmation information and automatically dialing in from the secondary conference application to the conference service provider at the preset time.

A method of automatically establishing a conference over the Internet from a user computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a desktop calendar application;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• and
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• wherein the conference request includes a request for an immediate conference and further comprising said conference service provider establishing the conference across an audio bridge and wherein receiving conference confirmation information comprises being connected to the audio bridge.

A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatically establishing a conference from a desktop calendar application at a user computer over the Internet, said method steps comprising:

• receiving user input of conference information at a user appointment calendar page generated by the desktop calendar application;
• automatically invoking a platform independent secondary conference application and providing the secondary application with the conference information;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• providing notification from said secondary application to the desktop application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.

A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatically establishing a conference from a user computer over the Internet, said method steps comprising:

• receiving user input of conference information at a platform independent secondary conference application from a user appointment calendar page of a user desktop calendar application;
• automatically dialing a conference service provider from the secondary application;
• communicating a conference request to the conference service provider from the secondary application;
• receiving conference confirmation information from the conference service provider;
• and
• providing notification from said secondary application of receipt of the conference confirmation information.