LiveOnTheNet.com

As a new user downloads a LiveOnTheNet softphone, they are required to register - creating a new VOIP account with an assigned Asterisk server within our platform. Their profile is stored with their home Asterisk server for authentication purposes and also in LiveOnTheNet's centralized database which, among other things, provides the conferencing platform with a universal sense of "presence" for each user - whether that user's softphone is currently available to take or make calls, or not.

An important feature of LiveOnTheNet's conferencing platform is its ability to reflect presence (whether or not an individual is available for a call) or status (whether there is activity in a given conference call or conversation). These conditions are reflected by the user's or voice chat's LiveStar which is also designed to be easily propagated around the web so users can let others see their own presence or the status of the voice chats they host.

Each new user is provided with an HTML link to an icon that continuously reflects their presence on the platform, or absence if they are unavailable. Each user or conference has a unique "LiveStar" - a graphical star icon that is lighted red when that user is present, or dimmed to gray if the user is unavailable. These links can used on web pages, on blogs, on message boards, HTML emails… almost anywhere, including in the Favorites section of each user's softphone.

As mentioned above, LiveStars also represent the status of voice conferences or chats… if the discussion is active (typically if there's at least person currently present in the voice conference) then the conference's star is lighted. If the conference is empty then the star is dimmed. Users will be able to define, roughly, what conditions make a voice chat active… for example, it may be the case that a chat should only be active if the host that created the chat is in the room… or it may be better if the chat is active if anyone at all is present on the call (bearing in mind, these rooms can be password protected as well).

A group of teenagers may want to create a voice chatroom available only to this group of friends. The "room" can be password protected and the room's LiveStar can be placed on each friend's social network page, for example. If any of the friends - using the password - enters the chat room then all of the chat's LiveStars, on each of the friends' social network pages, will turn red indicating activity in the chat room.
Another example may be a blogger who would like to actually speak interactively with his or her readers from time to time. The blogger can place a conference LiveStar on the blog page, and if the blogger - and only the blogger -- is available for a conversation, then readers will see that LiveStar illuminated and can kick off a conversation with the blogger and anyone else in the discussion. Alternatively, the blogger could set the LiveStar so that if any of his readers are available (not just the blogger), the LiveStar is lighted… allowing his readers to talk among themselves, presumably about the blog's entries.