Meeting Access Control via Participant Notification Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users attempting to join online meetings often lack the necessary information, such as unique access codes or hyperlinks, to gain entry, and existing systems require public advertisement of meeting existence and participation, compromising privacy.
Innovation Solution
A meeting management system that allows users to join in-progress meetings by providing identifying information about participants, sending access requests, and granting access upon approval, maintaining privacy by keeping meeting existence and participation private until access is granted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users are required to use unique access codes or hyperlinks to join meetings, then meeting security and access control are improved, but users lack the necessary information to gain entry and the system requires public advertisement of meeting existence compromising privacy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (the meeting management server) that mediates between users and meetings. Instead of direct access via codes or links, the system sends notifications to participants about ongoing meetings, allowing users to join without having prior knowledge of meeting identifiers. This intermediary mechanism resolves the contradiction by providing easy access (notification-based) while maintaining security (participant-only visibility).
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically notifying participants about meetings they are invited to, eliminating the need for manual entry of access codes or hyperlinks. Users simply receive notifications and can join meetings autonomously without requiring external assistance or public information, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining access control.
2Ease of operation
If meeting existence and participation are publicly advertised, then users can easily find and join meetings, but privacy of meeting details is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments information distribution by sending targeted notifications only to invited participants rather than publicly advertising meeting details. Each participant receives segmented, personalized notifications about specific meetings they are invited to, eliminating the need for public announcement while maintaining ease of access for authorized users.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by providing meeting information locally to each invited participant through personalized notifications, rather than globally broadcasting meeting details. This ensures that meeting existence and participation information is available where needed (to invited participants) while maintaining privacy by not exposing it publicly.
3Loss of information
If the system sends access requests to participants to confirm meeting details, then privacy is maintained, but the process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by sending notifications to participants and receiving their responses (acceptance or rejection) before granting access. This feedback loop maintains privacy by confirming participant intent while automating the process through the server, reducing manual complexity despite the additional verification step.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving, at a meeting server, a first input from a first computing device associated with a first user; identifying, at the meeting server, a second user who is connected to an in-progress meeting using the first input; transmitting an access request message from the meeting server to a computing device associated with the second user; and in response to receiving a positive response to the access request message at the meeting server from the second computing device, granting the first user access to the in-progress meeting.