System and method for presenting files in online conference

Abstract

According to the system and the method for presenting the files in the online conference, the files can be presented to other participants of the online conference at any time, and the situation that time is spent on repeatedly searching the files can be avoided. The system for presenting the file in the online conference comprises a first user device, a conference server and a second user device, the first user device is provided with a file application program and an online conference application program, a plug-in is arranged in the file application program, the first user device opens a file file through the file application program, and the first user device sends the file file to the online conference server. The second user device installs an online conference application.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for presenting files in an online conference, and in particular to a system and method for presenting files in an online conference, which can present files to other participants in the online conference at any time and avoid spending time repeatedly searching for files. Background Art

[0002] In the past, when participants needed to present files to other meeting participants, the common operation process was cumbersome and lengthy. First, before starting the online meeting, users would search for the required files on their local computers to confirm the exact path location of the files. This step itself could take a while, especially when users had a large number of files and folders to review.

[0003] After the user confirms the location of the file, they will join the online meeting. However, in this online meeting platform, in order to present the file, the user often needs to browse and find the same file path again. This not only means that the user must repeat the same operation steps, increasing the complexity of the operation, but also may encounter difficulties in the second search due to various reasons (such as forgotten path, file movement or simple negligence).

[0004] There are two main problems with this approach. First, users may make mistakes when searching for files, which can cause them to fail to present the correct file or experience unnecessary delays in the presentation process. Second, even if users can successfully find the file, this repeated search process will undoubtedly increase the user's operation time, affecting the efficiency of the meeting.

[0005] Therefore, the traditional way of presenting documents in online meetings not only increases the operational burden on users, but may also affect the speed and effect of the meeting. This makes presenting documents in online meetings a problem point that deserves improvement. Summary of the invention

[0006] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a system and method for presenting files in an online conference, which can present files to other participants in the online conference at any time.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for presenting files in an online conference, which can avoid wasting time on repeatedly searching for files.

[0008] To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for presenting a file in an online conference, which is applied to an online conference system including a plurality of user devices and a conference server. The method for presenting a file in an online conference includes:

[0009] (A) providing a plug-in in a file application, the file application being installed on a first user device among a plurality of user devices;

[0010] (B) the first user device opens a document file using a document application to display document content in the document file;

[0011] (C) triggering the plug-in to start an online conference application installed in the first user device;

[0012] (D) the online conference application captures the file content and transmits an online conference establishment command and the file content to the conference server, wherein the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes at least a second user device among the plurality of user devices;

[0013] (E) the conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member information and transmits a notification message and the file content to the second user device;

[0014] (F) The second user device activates an online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the online conference application presents the content of the document, wherein the first and second user devices each participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application.

[0015] The present invention also provides another method for presenting a file in an online conference, which is applied to an online conference system including a plurality of user devices and a conference server. The method for presenting a file in an online conference includes:

[0016] (A) providing a plug-in in a file application, the file application being installed on a first user device among a plurality of user devices;

[0017] (B) the first user device opens a document file using a document application to display document content in the document file;

[0018] (C) launching an online conference application installed in the first user device;

[0019] (D) the online conference application transmits an online conference establishment command to the conference server, wherein the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes at least a second user device among the plurality of user devices;

[0020] (E) the conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member information and sends a notification message to the second user device;

[0021] (F) the second user device activates the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application;

[0022] (G) when a document file is presented, the first user device triggers a plug-in of the document application program to enable the online conference application program to capture the document content and transmit it to the conference server;

[0023] (H) the conference server transmits the file content to the second user device according to the conference member information; and

[0024] (I) The online conference application in the second user device presents the file content.

[0025] The present invention also provides a system for presenting files in an online conference, comprising at least:

[0026] a first user device, in which a document application and an online conference application are installed, and a plug-in is set in the document application, and the first user device opens a document file with the document application;

[0027] A conference server;

[0028] a second user device having an online conference application installed therein;

[0029] When the plug-in is triggered by the first user device, an online conference application installed in the first user device is started, the online conference application retrieves the content of the file, and transmits an online conference establishment command and the file content to the conference server, the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes the second user device;

[0030] The conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member information and sends a notification message and file content to the second user device; and

[0031] The second user device starts the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the online conference application presents the content of the document, wherein the first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application.

[0032] The present invention also provides a system for presenting files in an online conference, comprising at least:

[0033] A first user device, in which a file application and an online conference application are installed, and a plug-in is set in the file application. The first user device opens a file file with the file application to display the file content in the file file;

[0034] A conference server;

[0035] a second user device having an online conference application installed therein;

[0036] An online conference application installed in the first user device is first started, and the online conference application transmits an online conference establishment command to the conference server, and the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes the second user device;

[0037] The conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member data and transmits a notification message to the second user device. The second user device activates the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message. The first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application; and

[0038] When presenting a file, the first user device triggers the plug-in of the file application to enable the online conference application to capture the file content and transmit it to the conference server. The conference server transmits the file content to the second user device according to the conference member information, and the online conference application in the second user device presents the file content.

[0039] The features, advantages, or similar expressions mentioned in this specification do not mean that all features and advantages that can be achieved by the present invention should be included in any single specific embodiment of the present invention. Instead, it should be understood that the expressions related to features and advantages mean that the specific features, advantages, or characteristics described in conjunction with the specific embodiment are included in at least one specific embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the discussion of features and advantages, and similar expressions in this specification is related to the same specific embodiment, but it is not necessary.

[0040] These features and advantages of the present invention may be more clearly understood by referring to the following description and the appended claims or by utilizing the embodiments of the present invention as set forth below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The present invention and its features, appearance and advantages will become more apparent by reading the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings. The same reference numerals indicate the same parts in all the drawings. The drawings are not drawn to scale, and emphasis is placed on illustrating the subject matter of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a system for presenting files in an online conference in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 A flowchart of a method for presenting files in an online conference in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3A flowchart of a method for presenting files in an online conference in another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Wherein, 1 is a network, 101 is a first user device, 102 is a second user device, and 103 is a conference server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In order to make the description of the disclosed content more detailed and complete, the following is an illustrative description of the implementation and specific embodiments of the present case; however, this is not the only form of implementing or using the specific embodiments of the present invention. The implementation covers the features of multiple specific embodiments and the method steps and sequences used to construct and operate these specific embodiments. However, other specific embodiments can also be used to achieve the same or equal functions and step sequences.

[0047] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, all functions described herein may be implemented in hardware or as software instructions that enable a computer to perform predetermined operations, wherein the software instructions are implemented in a computer-readable storage medium, such as RAM, a hard drive, flash memory, or other types of computer-readable storage media known to those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, the predetermined operations of the computer are performed by a processor, such as a computer, or a program code such as a computer program code, software, firmware, and in some embodiments, by an integrated circuit encoded to perform these functions. In addition, it should be understood that the various operations described herein as being performed by a user may be performed manually by the user, or may be performed automatically with or without instructions provided by the user.

[0048] Figure 1 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a system for presenting documents in an online conference according to the present invention. The system may include a plurality of user devices and a conference server 103. In actual operation, the number of user devices may be very large so as to provide multiple users with the ability to participate in an online conference. However, in this embodiment, two user devices are used as an example, namely a first user device 101 and a second user device 102, to simplify the description. The first user device 101, the second user device 102 and the conference server 103 are electrically connected to each other via a network 1 and transmit data.

[0049] An online conference application (not shown) is installed in both the first and second user devices 101 and 102, and a file application (not shown) is also installed in the first user device 101. If there is a need to quickly present a file to other participants in an online conference, the first user device 101 will set a plug-in (not shown) in the file application. For example, in this embodiment, the file application of the first user device 101 is provided with a plug-in. In an embodiment of the present invention, the file application can be a Microsoft Office application suite from Microsoft Corp., such as MICROSOFT WORD, MICROSOFT EXCEL, MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, all of which are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. A plug-in (Plug-in, Plugin, add-in, addin, add-on, addon or extension) is a computer program that can add some required specific functions to an application through interactive collaboration with an application (such as a file application, a web browser, an email client). The plug-in in the present invention can be regarded as a functional extension. The file application installed with the plug-in can present the file to other participants of the online meeting at any time according to the needs of the user, and avoid spending time repeatedly searching for the file. The user device in the present invention can be any hardware device that can be connected to the network 1, such as but not limited to a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer and a desktop computer.

[0050] The conference server 103 is installed with an online conference application (not shown), which is operated by the hardware architecture of the conference server 103. The hardware architecture of the conference server 103 is not much different from that of a general server, and may include a central processing unit, memory, storage device (such as a hard disk), input and output unit, etc. Although these hardware are not shown in the figure, Figure 1 In addition, one of the important hardware in the conference server 103 is the network communication interface (not shown), which is the assembly of important software and hardware (sometimes also includes program software running on the operating system) that connects the conference server 103 to external hardware through the network 1, and can include hardware such as network cards, connecting cables, and wireless communication modules. Figure 1 Although only one conference server 103 is shown in the figure, it is for illustrative purposes. In actual operation, the number of conference servers 103 may be one or more in response to different module characteristics and traffic requirements.

[0051] Implementation scenario 1: Open the file first, then create an online meeting and present the file to other participants

[0052] Figure 2This is a flow chart of a method for presenting a document in an online conference in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first user device 101 first opens the document file, then triggers the plug-in to start the online conference application, and then presents the content of the document file.

[0053] in, Figure 2 In step S01, a plug-in is set in a file application, and the file application is installed in the first user device 101. The file application in this embodiment may be a Microsoft Office application suite, such as MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0054] In step S02, the first user device opens a document file with a document application to display the document content in the document file. The document file in this embodiment is, for example, a POWERPOINT slide file (.ppt), but it can also be, for example, a WORD document file (.doc) or an EXCEL worksheet file (.xlsx), etc., and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0055] Step S03, triggering the plug-in to start the online conference application installed in the first user device 101. For example, the first user device 101 is a desktop computer, and the user operates the mouse to trigger the plug-in on the MICROSOFT POWERPOINT to start the online conference application installed in the first user device 101. In this step, the online conference application installed in the first user device 101 can provide an address book (for example, a window pops up to display an address book), and some user devices in the address book can be selected as conference member data, or the online conference application uses a default user device list as conference member data.

[0056] The conference member information is information about other members participating in the online conference, so that the conference server 103 can determine the objects to which the notification message and the file content should be sent. In order to simplify the description, this embodiment assumes that only the first and second user devices 101 and 102 participate in the online conference, so the conference member information in this embodiment only includes the second user device 102. If there are other user devices participating in the online conference, the conference member information will also include data of the other user devices.

[0057] In addition, when setting the conference member information, the online conference application installed by the first user device 101 can also set the access rights of other members participating in the online conference to the presented file content in the conference member information (for example, a selection box for the access rights of each member is further provided in the window displaying the address book). The access rights can include information such as: whether the file content can be read, whether the file content can be stored, etc., but are not limited to this.

[0058] In step S04, the online conference application captures the file content and transmits an online conference creation command and the file content to the conference server 103. The online conference creation command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes at least the second user device 102. In the present invention, the online conference application captures the file content and transmits it to the conference server 103 in a manner such as streaming the screen of the file content to the conference server 103, or in a manner such as taking a screenshot of the screen of the file content and transmitting it to the conference server 103 as a picture file, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0059] In step S05, the conference server 103 establishes an online conference according to the conference member data and transmits a notification message and the file content to the second user device 102. In this embodiment, the conference member data only includes the second user device 102, so the members of the online conference established by the conference server 103 only include the first user device 101 and the second user device 102. In addition, the conference member data may also include the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file content, so the notification message transmitted by the conference server 103 according to the conference member data will also include the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file.

[0060] In step S06, the second user device 102 activates the online conference application installed in the second user device 102 according to the notification message, and presents the file content with the online conference application, wherein the first and second user devices 101 and 102 respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application. In the embodiment of the present invention, the notification message also includes the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file content. Therefore, when the second user device 102 wants to read or store the received file content, it also needs to perform the corresponding action according to the access rights of the second user device 102 set by the first user device 101, such as whether the file content can be read or whether the file content can be stored.

[0061] As can be seen from the above description, the method for presenting files in an online conference provided in the present invention allows users to immediately start the online conference application to establish an online conference and present the file contents in the file archive to other user devices participating in the online conference by triggering the plug-in in the file application after opening the file archive with the file application. When starting the online conference application, an address book can also be provided to select some of the user devices therein as conference member information, or the default user device list can be used as conference member information. In addition, the access rights of each user device to the file content can be further set.

[0062] Implementation scenario 2: Open the file first, then establish an online meeting, and then present the file to other participants as needed

[0063] Figure 3 This is a flow chart of a method for presenting a document in an online conference in another preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first user device 101 first opens the document, then starts the online conference application to establish an online conference, and then presents the content of the document file as required.

[0064] in, Figure 3 In step S01, a plug-in is set in a file application, and the file application is installed in the first user device 101. The file application in this embodiment may be a Microsoft Office application suite, such as MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0065] In step S02, the first user device 101 opens a document file with a file application to display the document content in the document file. The document file in this embodiment is, for example, a POWERPOINT slide file (.ppt), but it can also be, for example, a WORD document file (.doc) or an EXCEL worksheet file (.xlsx), etc., and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0066] Step S03, start the online conference application installed in the first user device 101. In this step, the online conference application installed in the first user device 101 can provide an address book (for example, a window pops up to display an address book), and some user devices in the address book can be selected as conference member information, or the online conference application uses a default user device list as conference member information.

[0067] The conference member information is information about other members participating in the online conference, so that the conference server 103 can determine the objects to which the notification message and the document content should be sent. To simplify the description, the conference member information in this embodiment only includes the second user device 102. If the members participating in the online conference have other user devices, the conference member information will also include the data of the other user devices.

[0068] In addition, when setting the conference member information, the online conference application installed by the first user device 101 can also set the access rights of other members participating in the online conference to the presented file content in the conference member information (for example, a selection box for access rights of each member is further provided in the window displaying the address book). The access rights may include: whether the file content can be read, whether the file content can be stored, etc., but are not limited to this.

[0069] Step S04 , the online conference application transmits an online conference establishment command to the conference server 103 , where the online conference establishment command includes the above conference member information, and the conference member information at least includes the second user device 102 .

[0070] In step S05, the conference server 103 establishes an online conference according to the conference member data and transmits a notification message to the second user device 102. In this embodiment, the conference member data only includes the second user device 102, so the members of the online conference established by the conference server 103 only include the first user device 101 and the second user device 102. In addition, the conference member data may also include the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file content, so the notification message transmitted by the conference server 103 according to the conference member data will also include the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file content.

[0071] In step S06, the second user device 102 activates the online conference application installed in the second user device 102 according to the notification message, and the first and second user devices 101 and 102 respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application. It should be understood that in the present invention, the notification message also includes the access rights of the second user device 102 to the file content. Therefore, when the second user device 102 wants to read or store the received file content (if the first user device 101 presents the file content), it also needs to perform the corresponding action according to the access rights of the second user device 102 set by the first user device 101, such as whether the file content can be read or stored, etc.

[0072] Step S07, when presenting the file content, the first user device 101 triggers the plug-in of the file application program to enable the online conference application program to capture the file content and transmit it to the conference server 103. In this step, it means that the user of the first user device 101 can trigger the plug-in on the file application program of an opened file file (such as a slide file) at any time during the online conference, depending on whether he or she has the need to present the file content, thereby saving time in searching for the file file during the online conference and avoiding the possibility of not being able to find the file to be presented due to negligence or forgetfulness.

[0073] In step S08 , the conference server 103 transmits the file content to the second user device 102 according to the conference member information.

[0074] Step S09: the online conference application in the second user device 102 presents the file content.

[0075] As can be seen from the above description, the method for presenting files in an online conference provided in the present invention allows a user to open a file file with a file application as backup data, and then start the online conference application to establish an online conference. During the online conference, if the user believes that it is necessary to present the file content of the file file as reference data, the plug-in of the file application can be triggered at any time to make the online conference application transmit the file content to the conference server 103, and then make the conference server 103 transmit the file content to other participants of the online conference. If necessary, the access rights of other participants to the received file content can also be set.

[0076] Although various examples of the disclosed technology have been described above, it should be understood that these examples have been presented by way of example and are not limiting. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or other configurations of the disclosed technology, which may be depicted to assist in understanding the features and functionality that may be included in the disclosed technology. The disclosed technology is not limited to the example architectures or configurations described, but the desired features may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art how alternative functionalities, logical or physical partitioning and configurations may be implemented to implement the desired features of the technology disclosed herein. In addition, with respect to flow charts, operational descriptions, and method technical solutions, the order in which the steps are presented herein should not require that the disclosed technology be implemented to perform the listed functionality in the same order, unless the context otherwise dictates.

[0077] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes and modifications based on the shape, structure, characteristics and spirit described in the patent application scope of the present invention should be included in the patent application scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for presenting files in an online conference, characterized in that: Applied to an online conference system including a plurality of user devices and a conference server, the method for presenting a file in an online conference includes: (A) providing a plug-in in a file application, wherein the file application is installed in a first user device among the plurality of user devices; (B) the first user device opens a document file using the document application to display document content in the document file; (C) triggering the plug-in to start an online conference application installed in the first user device; (D) the online conference application captures the file content and transmits an online conference establishment command and the file content to the conference server, wherein the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes at least a second user device among the plurality of user devices; (E) the conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member information and sends a notification message and the file content to the second user device; and (F) The second user device activates an online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the online conference application presents the content of the document, wherein the first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application.

2. A method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step (C) further includes: the online conference application installed on the first user device provides an address book, and some user devices in the address book are selected as the conference member information.

3. The method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 1, characterized in that: Wherein step (C) further includes: the online conference application installed by the first user device uses a default user device list as the conference member information.

4. The method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conference member information also includes the access rights of the second user device to the file content, and the access rights to the file content include: being able to read the file content and being able to store the file content, or a combination thereof.

5. A method for presenting files in an online conference, characterized in that: Applied to an online conference system including a plurality of user devices and a conference server, the method for presenting a file in an online conference includes: (A) providing a plug-in in a file application, the file application being installed on a first user device among a plurality of user devices; (B) the first user device opens a document file using a document application to display document content in the document file; (C) launching an online conference application installed in the first user device; (D) the online conference application transmits an online conference establishment command to the conference server, wherein the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes at least a second user device among the plurality of user devices; (E) the conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member information and sends a notification message to the second user device; (F) the second user device activates the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application; (G) when a document file is presented, the first user device triggers a plug-in of the document application program to enable the online conference application program to capture the document content and transmit it to the conference server; (H) the conference server transmits the file content to the second user device according to the conference member information; and (I) The online conference application in the second user device presents the file content.

6. A method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 5, characterized in that: The step (C) further includes: the online conference application installed on the first user device provides an address book, and some user devices in the address book are selected as the conference member information.

7. The method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 5, characterized in that: Wherein step (C) further includes: the online conference application installed by the first user device uses a default user device list as the conference member information.

8. The method for presenting files in an online conference according to claim 5, characterized in that: The conference member information also includes the access rights of the second user device to the file content, and the access rights to the file file include: being able to read the file content and being able to store the file content, or a combination thereof.

9. A system for presenting files in an online conference, characterized in that: At least: a first user device, in which a document application and an online conference application are installed, and a plug-in is set in the document application, and the first user device opens a document file with the document application; A conference server; a second user device having an online conference application installed therein; When the first user device triggers the plug-in, the online conference application installed in the first user device is started, the online conference application captures the file content, and transmits an online conference establishment command and the file content to the conference server, the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes the second user device; The conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member data and sends a notification message and the file content to the second user device; and The second user device starts the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message, and the online conference application presents the content of the document, wherein the first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application.

10. A system for presenting files in an online conference, characterized in that: At least: A first user device, in which a file application and an online conference application are installed, and a plug-in is set in the file application. The first user device opens a file with the file application to display the file content in the file; A conference server; a second user device having an online conference application installed therein; An online conference application installed in the first user device is first started, and the online conference application transmits an online conference establishment command to the conference server, wherein the online conference establishment command includes conference member information, and the conference member information includes the second user device; The conference server establishes an online conference according to the conference member data and transmits a notification message to the second user device. The second user device activates the online conference application installed in the second user device according to the notification message. The first and second user devices respectively participate in the online conference through the installed online conference application. as well as When presenting the file file, the first user device triggers the plug-in of the file application to enable the online conference application to capture the file content and transmit it to the conference server. The conference server transmits the file content to the second user device according to the conference member information, and the online conference application in the second user device presents the file content.

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