Supporting collaborative virtual meetings using multi-agent systems

In an increasingly sophisticated global business environment there is often a need to be able to bring together professionals from all types of organizations from all over the world. Those professionals operate under severe time constraints and a conventional face-to-face meeting is both impractical and expensive. Virtual meetings have proved to be a convenient alternative, offering a flexible meeting domain more suitable for the busy executive. This paper explores the concept of using a peer-to-peer network and multi-agent systems to facilitate virtual meetings, managing the artifacts required for the session. By the use of a laptop, PDA or similar electronic device the meeting participant can join the meeting and collaborate in the discussion.