Unified Roster Subscription for Multi-Mode Communication Events
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users participating in different communication types, such as video conferencing and instant messaging, often lack access to a comprehensive list of all users and available communication types related to a shared event due to limitations in roster access.
Innovation Solution
A method where clients subscribe as participants or observers to rosters associated with media types, updating entries to indicate their subscription status across all relevant rosters, allowing access to all users and media types participating in a communication event.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If users participate in only one communication type (e.g., video conferencing), then device complexity and processing load are reduced, but users cannot determine all participants and communication types related to the same communication event
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate rosters (video conferencing roster, instant messaging roster, etc.) into a single unified roster that consolidates all participants across different communication types. This allows users to view all participants and communication types in one place without managing multiple separate roster systems, thus reducing device complexity while preventing information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified roster serves multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks participants across different communication types, provides escalation capabilities, and enables cross-communication notifications. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate roster management systems for each communication type, resolving the contradiction between information completeness and system complexity.
2Loss of information
If users subscribe to multiple rosters across different communication types, then complete participant information is obtained, but system complexity and subscription management overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple communication type-specific rosters into a single unified roster, the system eliminates the need for users to manually subscribe to and manage multiple separate rosters. The unified roster automatically consolidates participant information from video conferencing, instant messaging, and other communication types, making subscription management straightforward while maintaining complete participant visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified roster system automatically performs roster consolidation and participant tracking without requiring manual user intervention. The system self-manages the aggregation of participants across different communication types, reducing the operational burden on users while ensuring they receive complete participant information.
3Loss of information
If separate rosters are maintained for different communication types, then each roster can be optimized for its specific communication type, but users cannot determine all users participating in all communication types relating to the same communication event
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple communication type-specific rosters into a single unified roster that consolidates all participants across video conferencing, instant messaging, and other communication types. This unified structure maintains the ability to identify participants in each specific communication type while simultaneously providing a comprehensive view of all participants across all communication types, thus eliminating information visibility issues without requiring separate roster maintenance.
Data Source
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AI summary
In one embodiment, a method for unifying rosters is provided. A client receives an escalation request associated with a first roster and responds to the escalation request. The client subscribes to the first roster as a participant in response to accepting the escalation request or subscribes to the first roster as an observer in response to denying the escalation request. The client identifies a second roster within the first roster that the client is not subscribed to and subscribes to the first roster as an observer. The client updates an entry associated with the client in the second roster to indicate that the client is subscribed to the first roster as one of a participant or an observer. The client additionally updates an entry associated with the client in the first roster to indicate that the client is subscribed to the second roster as an observer.