| 摘要 |
The scheduling system (10) includes a bridge administrator (12) that is interfaced with a plurality of nodes (14, 16 and 18) via a public network such as the Internet (24). In the illustrated embodiment, each of the nodes (14, 16 and 18) includes both a phone (14A, 16A and 18A) and a computer (14B, 16B and 18B). The bridge administrator (12) includes a scheduler (26), a controller (28), a user database (30), a scheduling database (32) and a number of bridges (34, 36 and 38). A user can access the scheduler (26) via the Internet in order to schedule a conference call using one of the bridges (34, 36 and 38). The scheduler (26) authenticates the user based on the user database (30) and determines bridge availability based on the scheduling database (32). Scheduling information is then reported to the user and other conference call participants. At the scheduled conference call time, each of the conference call participants can access the selected bridge(s) (34, 36 and/or 38) in order to be patched into the-conference call. The invention thereby automates bridge scheduling so as to allow for better bridge utilization without requiring manual administration.
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