Programmable presence proxy for determining a presence status of a user

• US 9,306,820 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2013
• Issued: 04/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Boyer, David G., Khakoo, Shabbir A., Lalka, Vipul Kishore, Sasmazel, Levent, Sumetpong, Prem
• Primary Examiner(s): La, Anh V
• Application Number:
  US13/943,173
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304913A1
• Time in Patent Office: 994 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/531, 340/539.1, 340/539.13, 340/573.4, 709/224, 709/228, 709/206, 709/207
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4523 using lightweight directory access protocol [LDAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided that evaluate a number of different sources of presence information to determine a presence status of a user. The presence status of a user is determined by obtaining presence information from a plurality of presence data stores; translating the obtained presence information from at least one of the presence data stores into a standard format; and determining the presence status of the user based on the obtained presence information. Presence information can also be based on user-specified rules. Presence information is obtained from a number of presence data stores and the presence status of a user is determined based on one or more rules that are applied to the obtained presence information. The rules may include, for example, aggregation rules that determines the presence status based on one or more of the obtained presence information or filter rules that determine who may receive the presence status.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, at a presence server, presence information from a plurality of presence data stores, wherein the presence information provides a clue as to a presence status of a user, wherein the plurality of presence data stores provides the presence information in disparate formats;

aggregating, at the presence server, the presence information from the plurality of presence data stores according to an aggregation rule, to yield aggregated presence information;

translating, at the presence server, the aggregated presence information into a standard format, yielding translated presence information; and

determining, via a processor, the presence status based on the translated presence information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence status indicates whether the user can be reached for communication at a communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence information is obtained via a user registration process.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence information is obtained by observing an activity of a user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the presence information is performed by a presence data collector.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein obtaining the presence information further comprises querying one of the plurality of presence data stores for the presence information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of presence data store comprises a device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of presence data store comprises an application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein translating the presence information further comprises combining data obtained from the plurality of presence data stores.

10. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

obtaining, at a presence server, presence information from a plurality of presence data stores, wherein the presence information indicates a current presence status of a user, wherein the plurality of presence data stores provides the presence information in disparate formats;

aggregating, at the presence server, the presence information from the plurality of presence data stores according to an aggregation rule, to yield aggregated presence information;

translating, at the presence server, the aggregated presence information into a standard format, yielding translated presence information; and

determining the current presence status of the user based on the translated presence information.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the current presence status indicates whether the user can be reached for communication at a communication device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising querying one of the plurality of presence data stores for the presence information.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a further operation comprising receiving a message containing the presence information from one of the plurality of presence data stores.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein translating the presence information further comprises translating the presence information to a format appropriate for a recipient application, and wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a further operation comprising providing the current presence status to the recipient application.

15. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, at a presence server, presence information from a plurality of presence data stores, wherein the presence information provides a clue as to a presence status of a user, wherein the plurality of presence data store provides the presence information in disparate formats;

aggregating, at the presence server, the presence information from the plurality of presence data stores according to an aggregation rule, to yield aggregated presence information;

translating, at the presence server, the aggregated presence information into a standard format, yielding translated presence information; and

determining the presence status based on the translated presence information.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the presence information is obtained via a user registration process.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the presence information is obtained by observing an activity of a user.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein obtaining the presence information is performed by a presence data collector.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of presence data store comprises a device.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of presence data store comprises an application.