System and method for filtering unavailable devices in a presence and availability management system

Abstract

A method for communicating communication network availability information regarding an individual to at least one subscriber of the individual's availability information. According to one embodiment, the method includes detecting whether the individual is present on at least one communication network and determining availability of the individual for each access level of a profile of the individual. The method further includes publishing via a network the availability of the individual to the subscriber based on an access level of the subscriber and the presence information. In addition, the method includes filtering the availability of the individual when it is detected that the individual is no longer present on the communication network.

1 .- 40 . (canceled)  
     
     
         41 . A method for communicating communication network availability information regarding an individual to at least a first person and a second person, the method, comprising: 
 detecting whether the individual is present on at least one communication network;    determining availability of the individual;    publishing via a network a first availability profile for the individual associated with a first access level of the individual to the first person;    publishing via the network a second availability profile associated with a second access level of the individual to the second person,    wherein the first and second availability profiles respectively indicate different ways in which the first person and the second person may access the individual, wherein the first person views the first availability profile before contacting the individual and wherein the second person views the second availability profile before contacting the individual, wherein the first profile indicates that the individual is available on at least a first network and a second network, wherein the first and second networks are different and are selected from the group consisting of a telephone network, a facsimile network, an instant messaging network, a short messaging system (SMS) network, a voice over IP (VoIP) network, and a paging network, and wherein the second profile indicates that the individual can be contacted via the first network but not the second network; and    filtering for the availability of the individual when it is detected that the individual is no longer present on the communication network.    
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the first profile is viewed by the first person in the first person's contact list and the second profile is viewed in the second person's contact list.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the first and second profiles are viewed in the individual's contact list.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the first and second networks are represented by icons in the first and second availability profiles.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the first and second profiles are defined by the individual using a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 41  further comprising automatically determining if the first and second profiles are inaccurate or unusable and making adjustments to either a presence detection engine or an availability management engine to ensure that the first and second profiles are accurate and useable.  
     
     
         47 . A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to: 
 detect whether an individual is present on at least one communication network;    determine the availability of the individual;    publish via a network a first availability profile for the individual associated with a first access level of the individual to the first person;    publish via the network a second availability profile associated with a second access level of the individual to the second person,    wherein the first and second availability profiles respectively indicate different ways in which the first person and the second person may access the individual, wherein the first person views the first availability profile before contacting the individual and wherein the second person views the second availability profile before contacting the individual, wherein the first profile indicates that the individual is available on at least a first network and a second network, wherein the first and second networks are different and are selected from the group consisting of a telephone network, a facsimile network, an instant messaging network, a short messaging system (SMS) network, a voice over IP (VOIP) network, and a paging network, and wherein the second profile indicates that the individual can be contacted via the first network but not the second network; and    filter for the availability of the individual when it is detected that the individual is no longer present on the communication network    
     
     
         48 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  wherein the first profile is viewed by the first person in the first person's contact list and the second profile is viewed in the second person's contact list.  
     
     
         49 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  wherein the first and second profiles are viewed in the individual's contact list.  
     
     
         50 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  wherein the first and second profiles are defined by the individual using a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         51 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  further comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, automatically determines if the first and second profiles are inaccurate or unusable and makes adjustments to either a presence detection engine or an availability management engine to ensure that the first and second profiles are accurate and useable.