Using an Automated Scheduling Agent to Generate Events and Coordinate Schedules

Abstract

An event may be scheduled by establishing a connection between an event initiator and an automated scheduling agent, receiving an instruction from the event initiator to generate an event, interrogating the event initiator to identify one or more invitees for an event, referencing contact information for each of the invitees, using the automated scheduling agent to contact the invitee with a message that elicits invitee availability, using the automated scheduling agent to receive a response to the message that includes a set of two or more potential times for the event, relating the response of at least some members of the group that includes the invitee and the event initiator, and in response to relating the response from the more than two of the group, scheduling a event.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of scheduling an event, the method comprising:
 establishing a connection between an event initiator and an automated scheduling agent;   receiving an instruction from the event initiator to generate an event;   interrogating the event initiator to identify one or more invitees for an event;   referencing contact information for each of the invitees;   using the automated scheduling agent to contact the invitee with a message that elicits invitee availability;   using the automated scheduling agent to receive a response to the message that includes a set of two or more potential times for the event;   relating the response of at least some members of a group that includes at least one invitee and the event initiator; and   based on a relationship between the response from invitee and the event initiator the of the group, scheduling an event.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 establishing an interactive voice session between the event initiator and the automated scheduling agent residing on a host; 
 using an interactive voice response system to receive the instruction from the event initiator to generate the event; 
 enabling the event initiator to verbally select one or more invitees in the event; 
 referencing telephony contact information for at least one of the invitees; 
 using the automated scheduling agent to establish a second session with the invitee with the selected name; 
 proposing two or more proposed times; 
 in response to each of the proposed times, recording an event initiator preference for one of the proposed times; 
 relating the event initiator preference of at least two members from the group that includes the invitee and the event initiator; 
 generating a set of one or more available times that each satisfy event establishment criteria; and 
 scheduling the event at one of the available times. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein relating the event initiator preference includes relating to the event initiator preference of at least two of the invitees, including:
 for at least two members of the group that includes the invitees and the event initiator, referencing user availability based at least in part on the event initiator preference for the proposed time; and 
 relating the event initiator availability to the set of available times by: 
 determining whether the event establishment criteria supports adding the event initiator availability to the set of availability to the set of available times; 
 adding the event initiator availability to the set of available times only if the event establishment criteria is determined to support adding the event initiator availability to the set of available times; and 
 reducing the set of available times responsive to the event initiator availability and the event establishment criteria supports reducing the set of available times. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein relating the event initiator availability to the set of available times includes, for each optional attendee, configuring the event establishment criteria so that the set of available times is not reduced responsive to the event initiator availability. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein relating the event initiator availability to the set of available times includes, for each mandatory attendee, configuring the event establishment criteria so that:
 the event initiator availability is added to the set of available times when the mandatory invitee is a first record entered; and 
 the set of available times is reduced responsive to the event initiator availability and the event establishment criteria supports reducing the set of available times. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising using event establishment criteria by:
 referencing the set of available times; 
 comparing the set of available times with a threshold for participation in the event establishment criteria; and 
 scheduling the event when comparing the set of available times supports scheduling the event. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 in response to relating the event initiator preference of at least two of the invitees, determining that the event cannot be scheduled; 
 determining a factor around which the event initiator preferences may be measured; 
 relating the event initiator preferences using the factor; and 
 identifying a proposed time determined to be most responsive to the factor.