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Claims  |
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We claim:
1. A method for use in a user workstation including a pointing device and a
visual display unit to provide a graphical user interface for graphically
depicting in a realistic manner setting up and/or handling of a multimedia
call for a multimedia virtual meeting, comprising the steps of:
initiating a multimedia call from the user workstation to at least one
prospective participant of the virtual meeting;
displaying in an area on a screen of the visual display unit at the user's
workstation a graphical representation of a realistic virtual meeting room
metaphor including realistic icons of at least a table, the user's image,
at least one empty chair and a telephone, wherein the user's image icon
and the at least one empty chair icon are positioned around the table icon
in a realistic, real life manner mad the realistic telephone icon is for
use in setting up a multimedia call to the at least one prospective
virtual meeting participant, said empty chair being an indication that a
prospective participant can be added to the virtual meeting;
filling the empty chair when a participant is added to the virtual meeting,
adding an empty chair if a maximum number of participants has not been
attained,
adjusting the virtual meeting room display area on the users workstation
screen to accommodate an added chair when that occurs, and
causing the realistic icons to be arranged in the virtual meeting room
metaphor being displayed so that the adjusted screen area displaying the
virtual meeting room is minimized.
2. The method as defined in claim 1 further including the steps of
selecting the realistic telephone icon and displaying a call bar on the
screen in predetermined spatial relationship to the virtual meeting room
metaphor in response to the selection of the telephone icon, the call bar
including at least one option to be used in placing the multimedia call.
3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the call bar includes at least
a dial pad option which can be employed in placing the multimedia call and
an area for displaying a telephone number and further including the steps
of selecting the dial pad option to place the multimedia call, displaying
on the screen a realistic dial pad icon, inputting the at least one
prospective participant's telephone number via the dial pad, displaying
the telephone number being inputted in the call bar and causing the
displayed number to be dialed.
4. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the call bar includes at least
a directory option which can be employed in placing the multimedia call
and an area for displaying a telephone number, the directory including at
least names and telephone numbers of individuals and further including the
steps of selecting the directory option to place the multimedia call,
displaying on the screen a realistic directory page icon, locating the
name and telephone number in the directory of the at least one prospective
participant, selecting the at least one prospective participant's
telephone number from the directory, displaying the selected telephone
number in the dial bar and causing the displayed number to be dialed.
5. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the user workstation includes a
keyboard having number keys and the call bar includes an area for
displaying a telephone number and further including the steps of inputting
the at least one prospective participant's telephone number via the
keyboard number keys, displaying the telephone number being inputted in
the dial bar and causing the displayed number to be dialed.
6. The method as defined in claim 1 further including the steps of
selecting the realistic telephone icon and displaying a call bar on the
screen in predetermined spatial relationship to the virtual meeting room
metaphor in response to the selection of the telephone icon, the call bar
including at least an area to display a telephone number to be dialed,
supplying a telephone number of the at least one prospective participant
to be dialed, displaying the supplied telephone number in the call bar
area and causing the displayed number to be dialed, determining if the
dialed number has been answered, if the dialed number is answered,
removing the call bar from the display and displaying an image icon
representative of the answering virtual meeting participant over the empty
chair.
7. The method as defined in claim 6 further including the steps of
determining if the number of participants in the virtual meeting is a
maximum allowable number and if not, adding an empty chair at the table
indicating that another prospective participant may be added to the
virtual meeting.
8. The method as defined in claim 7 further including the steps of
determining if the virtual meeting room and table need to be expanded to
accommodate the added empty chair and, if so, expanding the size of the
virtual meeting room and table to accommodate the added empty chair while
keeping the virtual meeting room display area at a minimum size in order
to accommodate the added empty.
9. The method as defined in claim 6 wherein a number of virtual meeting
participants have been called and have been added to the virtual meeting
with an image icon of each of the number of the added participants being
placed over a respective chair around the table icon and further including
the steps of determining if one or more of the virtual meeting
participants have left the virtual meeting, if so, removing the image
icons of the one or more participants that have left and displaying empty
chairs around the table icon in place of the removed one or more image
icons.
10. The method as defined in claim 9 further including the steps of
rearranging the image icons around the table icon of the remaining virtual
meeting participants to fill the one or more empty chairs if they are
above the image icons of the remaining participants, if there are more
than one empty chairs, removing all but one of the empty chairs,
determining if there is space to shrink the length of the displayed
virtual meeting room and, if so, shrinking the length of the virtual
meeting room and the table to a length long enough to accommodate the
image icons of the remaining virtual meeting participants and the one
empty chair so that the virtual meeting room display area is kept to a
minimum.
11. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the meeting room includes a
tool closet including tools to be employed in the multimedia virtual
meeting for collaboration and/or communication among the virtual meeting
participants, the tool closet being initially in a closed condition so
that the screen area displaying the virtual meeting room is minimized.
12. The method as defined in claim 11 further including the steps of
opening the tool closet and displaying on the screen realistic icons of
the multimedia tools so that any one of the virtual meeting participants
having a workstation including a pointing device and a visual display unit
may select a tool from the opened tool closet to collaborate and/or
communicate with one or more of the virtual meeting participants.
13. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting further
includes decreasing the display area of the virtual meeting being
displayed on the user's workstation screen upon removal of an empty chair
from the virtual meeting being displayed so that the adjusted display area
is kept at a minimum.
14. Apparatus for use in a user workstation including a pointing device and
a visual display unit to provide a graphical user interface for
graphically depicting in a realistic manner setting up and/or handling of
a multimedia call for a multimedia virtual meeting, comprising:
means for initiating a multimedia call from the user workstation to at
least one prospective participant of the virtual meeting;
means for displaying in an area on a screen of the visual display unit at
the user's workstation a graphical representation of a realistic virtual
meeting room metaphor including realistic icons of at least a table, the
user's image, at least one empty chair and a telephone, wherein the user's
image icon and the at least one empty chair icon are positioned around the
table icon in a realistic, real life manner and the realistic telephone
icon is for use in setting up a multimedia call to the at least one
prospective virtual meeting participant; said empty chair being an
indication that a prospective participant can be added to the virtual
meeting;
means for filling the empty chair when a participant is added to the
virtual meeting,
means for adding an empty chair if a maximum number of participants has not
been attained,
means for adjusting the virtual meeting room display area on the users
workstation screen to accommodate an added chair when that occurs, and
means for causing the realistic icons to be arranged in the virtual meeting
room metaphor being displayed so that the adjusted screen area displaying
the virtual meeting room is minimized.
15. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 further including means for
selecting the realistic telephone icon and means for displaying a call bar
on the screen in predetermined spatial relationship to the virtual meeting
room metaphor in response to the selection of the telephone icon, the call
bar including at least one option to be used in placing the multimedia
call.
16. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 wherein the call bar includes at
least a dial pad option which can be employed in placing the multimedia
call and an area for displaying a telephone number and further including
means for selecting the dial pad option to place the multimedia call,
means for displaying on the screen a realistic dial pad icon to input the
at least one prospective participant's telephone number via the dial pad,
means for displaying the telephone number being inputted in the dial bar
and means for causing the displayed number to be dialed.
17. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 wherein the call bar includes at
least a directory option which can be employed in placing the multimedia
call and an area for displaying a telephone number, the directory
including at least names and telephone numbers of individuals and further
including means for selecting the directory option to place the multimedia
call, means for displaying on the screen a realistic directory page icon,
means for locating the name and telephone number in the directory of the
at least one prospective participant, means for selecting the at least one
prospective participant's telephone number from the directory, means for
displaying the selected telephone number in the dial bar and means for
causing the displayed number to be dialed.
18. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 wherein the user workstation
includes a keyboard having number keys and the call bar includes an area
for displaying a telephone number and further including the keyboard to be
used to input the at least one prospective participant's telephone number
via the keyboard number keys, means for displaying an inputted telephone
number in the dial bar and means for causing the displayed number to be
dialed.
19. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 further including means for
selecting the realistic telephone icon and means for displaying a call bar
on the screen in predetermined spatial relationship to the virtual meeting
room metaphor in response to the selection of the telephone icon, the call
bar including at least an area to display a telephone number to be dialed,
means for supplying a telephone number of the at least one prospective
participant to be dialed, means for displaying the supplied telephone
number in the call bar area and means for causing the displayed number to
be dialed, means for determining if the dialed number has been answered,
and means for removing the call bar from the display upon the call being
answered and for displaying an image icon representative of the answering
virtual meeting participant over the empty chair.
20. The apparatus as defined in claim 19 further including means for
determining if the number of participants in the virtual meeting is a
maximum allowable number and means for adding an empty chair at the table
indicating that another prospective participant may be added to the
virtual meeting when the number of participants in the virtual meeting is
less than the maximum.
21. The apparatus as defined in claim 20 further including means for
determining if the virtual meeting room and table need to be expanded to
accommodate the added empty chair and means for expanding the size of the
virtual meeting room and table to accommodate the added empty chair while
keeping the virtual meeting room display area at a minimum size in order
to accommodate the added empty chair.
22. The apparatus as defined in claim 19 wherein a number of virtual
meeting participants have been called and have been added to the virtual
meeting with an image icon of each of the number of the added participants
being placed over a respective chair around the table icon and further
including means for determining if one or more of the virtual meeting
participants have left the virtual meeting, means for removing the image
icons of the one or more participants that have left the virtual meeting
and for displaying empty chairs around the table icon in place of the
removed one or more image icons.
23. The apparatus as defined in claim 22 further including means for
rearranging the image icons around the table icon of the remaining virtual
meeting participants to fill the one or more empty chairs if they are
above the image icons of the remaining participants, the means for
removing removes all but one of the empty chairs, means for determining if
there is space to shrink the length of the displayed virtual meeting room
and means for shrinking the length of the virtual meeting room and the
table to a length long enough to accommodate the image icons of the
remaining virtual meeting participants and the one empty chair so that the
virtual meeting room display area is kept to a minimum.
24. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein the meeting room includes
a tool closet including tools to be employed in the multimedia virtual
meeting for collaboration and/or communication among the virtual meeting
participants, the tool closet being initially in a closed condition so
that the screen area displaying the virtual meeting room is minimized.
25. The apparatus as defined in claim 24 further including means for
opening the tool closet and for displaying on the screen realistic icons
of the multimedia tools so that any one of the virtual meeting
participants having a workstation including a pointing device and a visual
display unit may select a tool from the opened tool closet to collaborate
and/or communicate with one or more of the virtual meeting participants.
26. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein the means for adjusting
further includes means for decreasing the display area of the virtual
meeting being displayed on the user's workstation screen upon removal of
an empty chair from the virtual meeting being displayed so that the
adjusted display area is kept at a minimum. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/357,809
and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/358,214 which were filed
concurrently herewith.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to telecommunications networks and, more
particularly, to multimedia communications networks for providing flexible
multimedia telephone service and the like including video, voice and/or
data.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The essential characteristics of face-to-face meetings can be simulated by
multimedia telecommunications conference systems. Such conference systems
permit separated meeting participants to communicate with one another in
multiple media such as video voice and/or data from their own workplace
without requiring that they convene in the same place.
In prior known multimedia conference systems, it has been required that the
individual meeting participants had to be conversant with sophisticated
video and data communications protocols, including, for example network
address and transport protocols, in order to set-up and handle a
multimedia call in order to establish and operate a virtual meeting. If a
prospective participant was not familiar with the video and/or data
protocols, it essentially precluded his or her participation in the full
virtual meeting. Those prospective participants would be limited to only
the audio portion of the virtual meeting. This of course is extremely
undesirable. Therefore, a problem exists in providing an easy natural real
life way for unsophisticated prospective meeting participants to set-up
and handle multimedia telephone calls.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems and limitations with prior multimedia telecommunications
conference systems are overcome by utilizing a graphical user interface
(multimedia communications application program) that employs realistic
metaphors of real life face-to-face meetings in setting up and handling a
multimedia call to establish a virtual meeting which is automatically
reconfigured in response to user action. This is realized by taking
advantage of prospective virtual meeting participants' already existing
knowledge of how real life face-to-face meetings operate. To this end, the
multimedia communications application program enables the virtual meeting
participants through direct manipulation of the realistic graphical
metaphors to establish a realistic virtual meeting room metaphor which is
displayed on the screen of their workstation monitor. The virtual meeting
room includes a table and chairs arranged in a realistic manner in the
meeting room. The virtual meeting room and table are automatically
configured in response to user action in such a manner as to minimize the
screen area displaying the virtual meeting room and, thereby, maximizing
the screen area available for multimedia collaboration by the virtual
meeting participants. In one embodiment, an empty chair is displayed at
the table which indicates that at least one more participant can be added
to the virtual meeting. Once a predetermined maximum number of
participants have been included in the virtual meeting, the empty chair is
no longer displayed. In a specific example, the multimedia call is
established by use of a realistic telephone icon that looks and operates
like an ordinary real life telephone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an example of a multimedia telecommunications system in which the
invention may be employed;
FIG. 2 shows, in simplified block diagram form, the relationships between
the multimedia communications application program (hereinafter multimedia
application), middleware and the communications network;
FIG. 3 shows, in simplified block diagram form, details of a workstation
which may be employed in practicing the invention;
FIG. 4 is a graphical screen representation of the realistic graphical
meeting room metaphor;
FIG. 5 is a graphical screen representation with the multimedia application
minimized;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the steps a user performs in starting
the multimedia application in the initiation of a multimedia telephone
call;
FIG. 7 is a graphical screen representation which is displayed upon a user
starting the multimedia application in the initiation of the multimedia
telephone call;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that the user would perform
in selecting a telephone to initiate a multimedia call;
FIG. 9 is a graphical screen representation of the call bar that appears
when the telephone is selected to initiate the multimedia call;
FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the steps in placing a multimedia call
from the directory shown in FIG. 11;
FIG. 11 is a graphical screen representation of a directory;
FIG. 12 is a graphical screen representation of a multimedia call initiated
from an entry in the directory;
FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken in effecting a
multimedia call directly from the call bar;
FIG. 14 is a graphical screen representation illustrating a phone number
being entered directly from the keyboard of the user workstation;
FIG. 15 is a graphical screen representation illustrating ringing at a
remote participant's phone number that is being displayed;
FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken in effecting a
multimedia call from a dial pad;
FIG. 17 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the appearance of
the dial pad below the call bar;
FIG. 18 is a graphical screen representation illustrating a phone number
entered on the dial pad;
FIG. 19 is a graphical screen representation illustrating ringing at a
remote participant's phone number that is being displayed;
FIG. 20 is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken once the call is
placed;
FIG. 21 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the meeting upon
a remote participant answering the call;
FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating the steps which are taken upon receipt
of an incoming call at a user workstation;
FIG. 23 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the name and
phone number of the calling party;
FIG. 24 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the meeting room
upon the called party answering the incoming call;
FIG. 25 is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken in adding a
participant to an ongoing meeting.
FIG. 26 is a graphical screen representation illustrating an ongoing
meeting with three participants;
FIG. 27 is a graphical screen representation illustrating an ongoing
meeting with four participants;
FIG. 28 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the addition of a
participant to the meeting shown on the screen of FIG. 26;
FIG. 29 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the addition of a
participant to the meeting shown on the screen of FIG. 27;
FIG. 30 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the addition of
an empty chair to the meeting shown in the screen of FIG. 28;
FIG. 31 is a graphical screen representation illustrating expansion of the
meeting room from the meeting shown in the screen of FIG. 29;
FIG. 32 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the addition of
an empty chair to the meeting shown in the screen of FIG. 31;
FIG. 33 is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken when a meeting
participant permanently leaves the meeting room;
FIG. 34 is a graphical screen representation of an ongoing meeting
including six participants;
FIG. 35 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 34 upon a participant leaving that meeting;
FIG. 36 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 35 with the chairs rearranged;
FIG. 37 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting with the
participants rearranged around the table to fill in empty chairs;
FIG. 38 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 37 with the extra empty chair being removed;
FIG. 39 is a graphical screen representation of an ongoing meeting
including five participants;
FIG. 40 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 39 upon a participant leaving that meeting;
FIG. 41 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 40 with the chairs rearranged;
FIG. 42 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting with the
participants rearranged around the table to fill in empty chairs;
FIG. 43 is a graphical screen representation of the meeting shown in the
screen of FIG. 42 with the extra empty chair being removed;
FIG. 44 is a graphical screen representation illustrating the shrinking of
the size of the meeting room.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows an example of multimedia telecommunications system 100 in
which an embodiment of the invention may be readily employed. Individual
users at different work locations can set-up a multimedia conference call
via a number of different desktop communications devices. As shown, the
desktop communications devices may include, but are not limited to,
personal computer 101 with built in microphone for audio, workstation 102
including an attached video camera 103 and ISDN telephone 104, workstation
105 with attached video camera 106, personal computer 107 with an
integrated video camera 108, workstation 109 including video camera 110
and an analog telephone 111, ISDN telephone 112, facsimile (FAX) machine
113 and, finally, analog telephone 114. It should be noted that personal
computer 101 does not provide local user video to the meeting, FAX machine
113 only provides FAX service and ISDN telephone 112 and analog telephone
114 only provide audio access to the meeting. The personal computers and
workstations may be any of those known in the art, for example, personal
computers and/or workstations commercially available from AT&T Corp.,
Apple Computer Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and others.
The several different desktop communications devices are interconnected via
communications network 116. Note that workstations 101, 102, 107 and 109,
and ISDN telephone 112, facsimile machine 113, and analog telephone 114
are directly connected to communications network 116, while workstation
105 is connected through multimedia server 115 to communications network
116. In this example, communications network 116 could be, for example, a
long distance telecommunications network such as a long distance network
provided by AT&T. It may be connected to a number of local telephone
networks provided by local exchange carriers or alternate access vendors
to provide access to the different desktop communications devices.
Alternatively, communications network 116 could be a wide band area
network, a local area network or the like. Typically, communications
network 116 may include the usual public switched long distance network
composed of a plurality of well known digital switching units and may
contain one or more packet networks. Additionally, communications network
116 may include known video conference bridge arrangements capable of
conferencing video, audio and/or data bit streams among the different
desktop communication devices. Communications network 116 may also include
multimedia multipoint control units (MCUs) that provide multimedia call
capability including video, audio and/or data bit streams. Such MCU units
are known and are described in Bell Core Generic Requirements
GR-1337-CORE, Issue 1, September 1993 and entitled "Multipoint Multimedia
Conferencing Control Unit". Furthermore, communications network 116 may
include an asynchronous transport mode (ATM) network capable of
transporting and switching multimedia calls including video, audio, and/or
data bit streams.
As indicated above, workstation 105 is connected via multimedia server 115
to communications network 116. Multimedia server 115 provides for one or
more video, one or more audio and one or more data bit streams to be
combined, while maintaining the integrity of those bit streams for
transmission to communications network 116, for workstation 105 and the
other desktop communications devices in a particular meeting including
workstation 105. The functionality of multimedia server 115 can be
provided for a particular workstation locally, as shown in relationship to
workstation 105, and for the other desktop communications devices in a
meeting including workstation 105. It is noted that for the other desktop
communications devices in a meeting not including workstation 105 and
multimedia server 115, communications network 116 must provide the
multimedia server functionality for them.
Thus, communications network 116, which is not part of this invention,
provides the functionality including the multimedia server functionality,
when necessary, for interconnecting selected ones of the desktop
communications devices in particular virtual meetings, as desired.
FIG. 2 illustrates in simplified block diagram from how multimedia
application, i.e., the graphical user interface, 201 (201') located on the
user personal computer or workstation communicates via application program
interfaces that connect to middleware 202 (202'). Note that the solid
lines in FIG. 2 denote direct connectivity between elements 201 through
203 and 203' through 201', and vice versa, while the dotted lines denote
logical connectivity between, for example, elements 201 and 201', and 202
and 202'. Middleware 202 (202') is software that is located at the
workstation and also distributed among intelligent points in
communications network 116. Middleware 202 (202') serves to isolate the
multimedia application from platform differences (e.g., UNIX versus MS-DOS
and the like) and communications network 116 details. Middleware 202
(202') also serves as a link between the workstation application programs,
for example, 201, and network transport 203 server functions, as well as,
applications that include, but are not limited to, multimedia call
connection setup, directory services of people and network resources,
information services, messaging services, and the like. When a user places
or receives a multimedia call from his or her workstation, the workstation
automatically registers its capabilities with middleware 202 (202').
Middleware 202 (202') employs the registered capabilities to control call
setup and transmission of video, audio and/or data. Since, all the
capabilities (e.g., full-video, shared data, facsimile, audio and the
like) from all of the meeting participants' workstations are registered
with middleware 202 (202'), it is available to all of the meeting
participants. When information is to be transmitted to participants in the
multimedia meeting, middleware 202 (202') determines the proper display
formats and transport protocols. Such middleware is known in the art, see
for example, an article entitled "Middleware's Next Step: Enterprise-Wide
Applications", Data Communications, Sept. 1992, pages 157-164 and an
article entitled "Closeup Middleware: Networking's Silly Putty",
Communications Week, Jun. 20, 1994, pages 48-49.
FIG. 3 shows, in simplified block diagram for details of a user's
workstation. Specifically, shown is central processing unit (CPU) 301
which is interconnected via bus 302 to random access memory (RAM) 303,
data memory 304, which may be a ROM, and input/output (I/O) unit 305. I/O
305 interfaces pointing device 306, video camera 307, if available,
telephone 308, analog or ISDN if available, keyboard 309, and display
device 310 to bus 302 and to network interface 311. Such workstations
units are known in the art and commercially available, as indicated above,
and provide shared data capabilities. Network interface 311 comprises an
application program interface that translates computer application
requests into the appropriate transport format for transmission via
communications network 116 and also takes requests from communications
network 116 and translates them into a format appropriate for interacting
with the workstation's applications program. Such arrangements are known
in the art. It is further noted that transmission from a user workstation
to communications network 116 may be via any of a number of transmission
arrangements for example, digital data system (DDS), basic rate interface
(BRI) ISDN, primary rate interface (PRI) ISDN, a modem, analog
transmission, digital transmission, facsimile transmission, or the like.
It is noted that a mouse, track ball, touch screen, keyboard cursor
control keys or the like may be employed as a pointing device.
FIG. 4 is a graphical screen representation of the real life meeting room
metaphor illustrating the various components that could be included in a
multimedia meeting. Shown in FIG. 4 is image icon 401, illustrating the
image of the originator of the meeting, realistic telephone 402 which is
used to place and receive multimedia calls, image icon 403 of a
participant in the meeting, empty chair 404 which is available for an
additional participant to be included in the meeting, generic image icon
405 which would be employed for a participant whose bit map image is not
available, table 406 on which objects can be placed to be shared among the
meeting participants, projector 407 which is shown on table 406 and may be
utilized to share images among the participants, and view graph folder 408
which contains images that can be placed on the projector 407. Also, shown
in FIG. 4 is tool closet 409, which includes the multimedia tools that may
be utilized during a multimedia meeting by the participants. Shown in tool
closet 409, in this example, are copier 410 which may be utilized by the
participants to send computer files from one participant to one or more of
the other participants, application sharer (link) 411 which enables the
participants to share a computer application program, screen snapshot
camera 412 which is used to create a view graph by taking a snapshot of
any portion of the monitor screen, call timer 413 which times the length
of the multimedia call and can be used to set an alarm, slide projector
414 which is used to display a presentation of a sequence of one or more
images to the meeting participants, and FAX machine 415 which is used to
send facsimiles to meeting participants and others. The instrumentalities
shown in tool closet 409 are by way of example and any other desired
multimedia to | | |
