US Patent 7574473 Techniques for providing a conference with a virtual participant

Techniques for conducting a meeting using a meeting management system are provided. A connection from a user to a connection interface is received for a meeting being offered by the meeting management system. An input is received that provides contact information for a user. The user may choose to be a virtual participant in the meeting. A meeting interface is provided during the meeting using the meeting management system where the interface includes an option to contact the user. The user is listed as a virtual participant in the meeting. A request to contact the user is received at the meeting interface and the user is automatically connected to the user using the contact information.