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1. Introduction
FreeTime is an end-user software solution for computer-aided optimal scheduling of meetings.
FreeTime was developed to coordinate meetings with participation of people from a joint team using resources from a joint pool. The term "team" is not limited to industrial groups but includes the entire spectrum of the meanings that cover commercial and non-profit organizations where scheduling is necessary. At the same time, the term "meeting" should also be extended and could correspond to every "thing to do" in everyday life: meetings, small talks, short trips, phone calls, and even coffee-breaks. Similarly, the term "resource pool" is meant to include all available rooms, projectors, computers or other equipment that can be useful for "meetings".
The distributed FreeTime system helps users to choose an optimal timeframe and place for each meeting in real time:
- A user can specify any rough timeframe for a meeting, like "this afternoon", "before the end of this week", "each month", etc - the FreeTime system will automatically choose an exact time depending on the particular schedules of all participants,
- If a meeting demands some resources - rooms, special tools or devices - the FreeTime system will automatically take it into account and choose an appropriate distribution of all resources among meetings
- If some participants cannot be available, even in a given "rough" timeframe, the FreeTime system will automatically re-schedule other meetings to find a time and place for all meetings.
The competitive power of this new LEDAS product is based on a unique combination of its features:
- FreeTime provides automatic schedule optimization and resolution of conflicts,
- FreeTime is based on the client-server protocol with all scheduling done by a powerful server,
- FreeTime enables the planning of meetings by using notebooks, PDAs, and mobile phones,
- FreeTime supports true and efficient interaction among those who are involved in the planning process,
- FreeTime includes a broad set of high level end-user capabilities,
- FreeTime is cost-efficient software with a flexible pricing policy.
The advantages listed above make the LEDAS scheduling solution powerful, flexible, and mobile - we see these characteristics as the keys to the success of FreeTime at the market.
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