This relates to methods, systems and devices for managing communications between groups of people. The disclosure can be applied to audio, text, video, any other suitable communications medium, or any combination thereof. The disclosure can be applied to telecommunications networks, radio networks, the Internet, or any other type of communications network.
Traditional communications networks are rigid an inflexible. For example, traditional communications networks may only allow devices to form single-use connections with other devices, and those single-use connections must be established from scratch before any communications can begin. By establishing a separate single-use connection for each new communication, traditional systems provide a choppy user experience that includes initiation delays. Moreover, traditional communication networks do not allow users to seamlessly move in and out of communications with pre-existing groups of users. This can prevent users from interacting in a fluid manner.
Traditional communications networks also provide inadequate functionality for calls amongst multiple users. For example, traditional communications network may only allow devices to form new communications as one of two types: a direct communication with a single other user or a “conference” or “party” communication amongst multiple users. In the “conference” or “party” communication, all users are given an equal opportunity to provide input (e.g., all users can speak at once) and all input is treated as having an equal priority so that all input is provided to the receiving user in the same manner. Moreover, the “shared” line of a “conference” or “party” communication provides the identical experience (i.e., audio output) to all users. For example, traditional communications networks are inadequate at managing multiple, simultaneous communications. Most traditional networks will simply display the communications in parallel with minimal distinction. Moreover, the traditional networks are largely devoid of mechanisms for combining communications of different media (e.g., audio, text, and video).
Accordingly, in traditional communications networks, both types of traditional communication—direct communications between two users and “conference” or “party” communications amongst multiple users—provide a unitary option where an individual user either opts into or out of a particular communication but creating any additional communication requires opening up a wholly new communications channel which has no interaction with the pre-existing communication and does not share architecture, efficiencies or features with the pre-existing communication.