Mobile Calendar Scheduling App with Remote Server Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current online scheduling tools fail to seamlessly integrate with multiple calendar and contact management systems, leading to complexity in coordinating meetings across different platforms and user preferences.
Innovation Solution
A mobile application and method that allows users to share calendars, view others' schedules, and request automatic scheduling suggestions by communicating with a remote server to find common free time blocks, with features like accelerometer-activated scheduling requests and customizable filters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate calendar and contact management tools are used, then users can maintain their existing preferences and data, but the complexity of coordinating meetings across different platforms increases dramatically
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized server as an intermediary that receives calendar data from multiple different calendar systems (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.), normalizes it into a common format, and processes availability information. This mediator enables seamless integration without requiring users to switch their existing calendar tools, thus maintaining adaptability while reducing coordination complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduling system is designed with universal functionality to work with multiple calendar and contact management platforms simultaneously. The server can handle data from various sources (different email providers, contact databases) and present unified availability information, making the system adaptable to diverse user environments while simplifying the meeting coordination process.
2Reliability
If manual back-and-forth scheduling is used to accommodate user preferences, then individual availability can be respected, but the time required to find a suitable meeting slot increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically collecting and processing calendar availability data from all participants before a meeting request is made. The server pre-calculates available time slots based on existing calendar information, user preferences, and constraints, so when a meeting request arrives, the scheduling decision can be made immediately without back-and-forth communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the server continuously monitors calendar updates and availability changes from all participants. When availability information changes, the system automatically recalculates and notifies users of updated time slots, ensuring that scheduling decisions are based on current, accurate information without requiring manual verification.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive calendar synchronization is implemented, then complete visibility of participant schedules is achieved, but the data processing and network communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for scheduling decisions from comprehensive calendar data. Instead of synchronizing and processing entire calendar datasets, the server extracts availability status, meeting constraints, and preference information, then uses only this extracted data for scheduling calculations, reducing network overhead while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial synchronization by selectively updating and processing only the portions of calendar data that are relevant to current scheduling needs. Rather than continuously synchronizing entire calendars, the server processes specific time ranges and participant subsets needed for each scheduling request, reducing overall data processing overhead while maintaining necessary visibility.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments discussed herein describe an application device and method for calendar sharing and scheduling over a communication network. When a meeting is to be scheduled between two or more participants, the organizing participant enters an identification of the participants and requests a time suggestion. In response to the request, information relating to the availability and/or preferences of each participant is gathered from one or more databases and processed centrally in a remote server to determine a block of time during which all the participants are commonly free. The block of time is pushed to a user interface for display. If the organizing user selects the block of time, a meeting request may be sent to the participants to confirm the meeting.