Techniques are described related to enabling automated assistants to enter into a conference mode in which they can participate in meetings between multiple human participants and perform various functions described herein. In various implementations, an automated assistant implemented at least in part on conference computing device(s) may be set to a conference mode in which the automated assistant performs speech-to-text processing on multiple distinct spoken utterances, provided by multiple meeting participants, without requiring explicit invocation prior to each utterance. The automated assistant may perform semantic processing on first text generated from the speech-to-text processing of one or more of the spoken utterances, and generate, based on the semantic processing, data that is pertinent to the first text. The data may be output to the participants at conference computing device(s). The automated assistant may later determine that the meeting has concluded, and may be set to a non-conference mode.

A method and system for automatically joining a conference is disclosed, in which a user is offered an option for enabling the automatic connection to the conference at multiple instances prior to the scheduled meeting. The user can specify the time the connection should occur, and specify which conference events they would like to be automatically connected to. An auto-record feature can also be made available to permit users to specify conferences that should be recorded. A snooze option can also be presented to the user to have the system reattempt the automatic connection at a later time.

A control system is provided for controlling participation of another communication terminal in a session when the session has been established for transmitting information between communication terminals. The control system includes a participation control unit configured to reject participation of the other communication terminal in the session in the case where the session has been established based on a communication start request by one of the communication terminals specifying a first destination, and to permit the participation of the other communication terminal in the session in the case where the session has been established based on a communication start request by one of the communication terminals specifying a second destination different from the first destination.

A method and system are provided. The method includes automatically monitoring one or more voice communication sessions occurring on multiple communication devices to transcribe into text, by a processor-based voice-to-text transcriber, voices uttered by two or more respective participants other than a user in each of the voice communications sessions. The method further includes comparing, for each of the voice communication sessions, the topic of interest to conversation features derived from the text to detect a match there between. The method also includes providing the user with a summary of each of the voice communication sessions for which the match has been detected by said comparing step, the summary being based on the text. The method additionally includes automatically connecting the user to at least one of the voice communication sessions for which the summary thereof has been provided to the user.

A virtual assistant application, system, and service that interacts with a caller over a telephone, cellular, or VoIP network as the called party's representative when the called party is unavailable, providing answers to queries and performing commands that were provisioned by the called party. The application includes a telephony interface, speech recognition and synthesis, a dialog manager, and knowledge domain. The application can also be configured to interact with a sender of SMS, MMS, or IM messages.

Described herein is a methods and systems for providing a digital interactive experience. Interactive experiences include, but not limited to, synchronized video playback, video and text chat between two or more participants, and interactive live event participation combining synchronized video, text and video chatting. The system comprises persistent and non-persistent components to which a plurality of participants in the interactive experience may connect.

A method and system are provided. The method includes automatically monitoring one or more voice communication sessions occurring on multiple communication devices to transcribe into text, by a processor-based voice-to-text transcriber, voices uttered by two or more respective participants other than a user in each of the voice communications sessions. The method further includes comparing, for each of the voice communication sessions, the topic of interest to conversation features derived from the text to detect a match there between. The method also includes providing the user with a summary of each of the voice communication sessions for which the match has been detected by said comparing step, the summary being based on the text. The method additionally includes automatically connecting the user to at least one of the voice communication sessions for which the summary thereof has been provided to the user.

A secure teleconference with a patient treatment room may be initiated by receiving, at a central facility, a request for a conference from a clinician application, and then identifying a virtual meeting room and sending an identifier for a conference to the treatment room. The conference is then be established by receiving a call at the central facility from the treatment room, where the call identifies the conference. The central facility then joins the treatment room and the clinician application to the virtual meeting room. Teleconferences may thus be established without reference to sensitive patient information. For security, no incoming conferencing calls may be made to the treatment room directly, and virtual meeting rooms may be eliminated after single use. A call may further be initiated by receiving a request from the treatment room, e.g., which is processed by the central facility to alert one or more clinicians.

A secure teleconference with a patient treatment room may be initiated by receiving, at a central facility, a request for a conference from a clinician application, and then identifying a virtual meeting room and sending an identifier for a conference to the treatment room. The conference is then be established by receiving a call at the central facility from the treatment room, where the call identifies the conference. The central facility then joins the treatment room and the clinician application to the virtual meeting room. Teleconferences may thus be established without reference to sensitive patient information. For security, no incoming conferencing calls may be made to the treatment room directly, and virtual meeting rooms may be eliminated after single use. A call may further be initiated by receiving a request from the treatment room, e.g., which is processed by the central facility to alert one or more clinicians.

A virtual assistant application, system, and service that interacts with a caller over a telephone, cellular, or VoIP network as the called party's representative when the called party is unavailable, providing answers to queries and performing commands that were provisioned by the called party. The application includes a telephony interface, speech recognition and synthesis, a dialog manager, and knowledge domain. The application can also be configured to interact with a sender of SMS, MMS, or IM messages.