Initiating a conference call includes receiving a conference call request message from an initiating user specifying a plurality of other users and determining an availability of the other users to receive conference call invitations. A conference call is initiated between the initiating user and one or more of the other users that are determined to be available. The availability of one or more of the other users determined to be unavailable is monitored and interaction with a conference call invitation by one or more of the other users determined to be unavailable is enabled upon their monitored availability changing from unavailable to available. The interaction with the conference call invitation by the other users is conditioned on whether the conference call is still in progress.

Systems and methods for coordinating an impromptu voice meeting in an automated call distribution (ACD) system receive a request to initiate the impromptu voice meeting among a team of agent devices; validate the request to initiate the impromptu voice meeting; generate a meeting contact identifier; commence the impromptu voice meeting between an initiator of the request and each of the available agent devices; link a respective state of the initiator of the request and each available agent device among the team of agent devices, to the meeting contact identifier; set a respective state of each unavailable agent device among the team of agent devices to a next state of the meeting contact identifier; and while the impromptu voice meeting is active, adding, by the processor, each respective previously unavailable device to the impromptu voice meeting as it becomes available.

Aspects of the present disclosure involve a system comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing a program and method for scheduling a call to be automatically initiated between users. The program and method provide for receiving, from a first device associated with a first user, a request for a call to be automatically initiated, at a scheduled time, between the first device and a second device corresponding to a second user; providing, to the second device and in response to the receiving, an invitation to participate in the call; receiving, from the second device and in response to the providing, an acceptance of the invitation; and providing for automatically initiating the call between the first device and the second device at the scheduled time.

Meeting and conferencing systems and methods are implemented in a variety of manners. Consistent with one embodiment of the present disclosure, an audio conference system includes communications circuitry and a caller interface, each associated with setting up or managing the audio conference. Menu options may be provided to validate or authenticate incoming telephony calls. In response to a selection of the menu options, an incoming telephony call may be prompted to select a callback number, and then the system monitors for a trigger event. A participant is contacted in response to detecting the trigger event, and the contacted participant is then placed into the audio conference.

A communication system include: a first acquisition unit configured to acquire request information of session initiation and authentication information of session participation; a session management unit configured to establish the session between the first terminal and the second terminal; a second acquisition unit configured to acquire request information of session participation and the authentication information of session participation being input by a third terminal; and a participation determination unit configured to compare the authentication information of session participation obtained by the first acquisition unit with the authentication information of session participation obtained by the second acquisition unit, and the participation determination unit allowing the third terminal to participate in the session when the authentication information of session participation obtained by the first acquisition unit is identical to the authentication information of session participation obtained by the second acquisition unit.

A control system includes a receiver configured to receive information relating to starting or ending a call between a first communications terminal and a second communications terminal while a session, which is for sending content data between the first communications terminal and the second communications terminal, is established; and a transmitter configured to send, to the first communications terminal, control information for starting output of content based on content data sent from the second communications terminal, in response to receiving the information relating to starting the call by the receiver, and to send, to the first communications terminal, the control information for stopping output of the content based on the content data sent from the second communications terminal, in response to receiving the information relating to ending the call by the receiver.

Methods and systems are provided for automatically joining a user in a conference meeting via alternative communication devices when the user is detected to be unavailable at a particular client communication device. The client communication device of the user determines that the presence of the user is set to away, indicating that the user is unavailable at the client communication device. When the client communication device determines that a conference meeting including the user as an active participant is about to begin, the client communication device determines an alternative number, and different communication device, at which to reach the user. Using the alternative number, the client communication device calls the user at the different communication device and, when answered, automatically joins the user into the conference meeting through a communication channel provided by the client communication device.

A method of simplifying electronic communications between a plurality of users by communication implementation and management. Each user has an electronic identifier, which may be of a type, such as a website address, domain, LinkedIn address, etc. Each identifier is unique to each user. The electronic identifier can be changed at any time prior to contact enabling privacy and the method may be effected on a singular telecommunications platform (SIP) or mixed platform (SIP and PSTN) or other voice or text medium for cost efficiency. The system renders communication between users passive and allows for simultaneous and instantaneous communication while maintaining anonymity of the identifiers used.

A method and apparatus are disclosed of transmitting live event notification information to a user device. One example method may include retrieving event user preference information from an event user database based on prestored user preferences. The method may also include transmitting an initial event notification message to an end user communication device based on the event user preference information to notify the end user of an upcoming event and receiving a response message from the end user communication device indicating a current availability of the end user. The user device may receive notification information via more than one communication channel and respond in a number of different ways.

An automated method and system is provided for resolving conflicts in presence and availability information stored at differing network nodes and configuring interparty communications.