Encoded Email Event Scheduling Across Organizations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Scheduling meetings across multiple organizations is challenging due to inaccessible availability information and cumbersome user interfaces, especially as the number of potential attendees grows.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows a sender device to generate an email with encoded data elements specifying proposed meeting times, which can be embedded in the email message and transmitted to recipient devices, enabling users to select available times and automatically create event entries in their electronic calendars, facilitating coordination across different organizations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional email or calendar systems are used to schedule meetings across different organizations, then availability information can be accessed, but the user interface becomes cumbersome and confusing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex scheduling process into distinct components: sending proposed times via email, receiving availability responses separately, and automatically determining optimal times. This segmentation simplifies the user interface by eliminating the need for a complex integrated scheduling system while maintaining availability information exchange.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary automated system that acts as a mediator between users. The system receives availability information from recipients, processes it against proposed times, and automatically determines optimal meeting times, thereby simplifying the user interface while maintaining comprehensive availability checking across organizations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of potential meeting attendees increases, then more perspectives are available, but the difficulty in scheduling a convenient time magnifies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service automation where the system automatically processes availability information from multiple recipients, compares it against proposed times, and determines optimal meeting times without requiring manual coordination. This eliminates the exponential increase in scheduling complexity that normally accompanies more attendees.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by automatically collecting availability information from all recipients and pre-processing it against proposed times before presenting options to the sender. This preliminary automation handles the complex coordination of multiple attendees, reducing the time required as the group size increases.
3Ease of operation
If manual coordination methods are used to schedule meetings, then flexibility is maintained, but the scheduling process becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary automated actions by collecting availability information and processing proposed times before the user needs to make a decision. This preliminary automation maintains flexibility in selecting from multiple proposed times while dramatically improving scheduling efficiency through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where recipients provide availability information in response to proposed times, and the system automatically processes this feedback to determine optimal meeting times. This automated feedback loop maintains scheduling flexibility while improving efficiency by eliminating manual iteration.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are examples relating to scheduling events using devices in communication through a network. In some examples, an email message comprising an encoded data element is obtained. The encoded data element includes data that specifies a proposed time for an event. The data that specifies the proposed time for the event is extracted from the encoded data element. Content from the email message is rendered in a user interface. A user interface element is rendered within the user interface. The user interface element represents the proposed time for the event and an availability for the event at the proposed time.