Patent ID: 7725542

Claim:
A method for handling E-mail messages, comprising: receiving an instant message (IM) from a sender in a chat session at a primary IM processing client application of a primary IM processing device configured to process E-mail and IM messages, the primary IM processing client having either an online-present, an online-away, or offline availability state for IM communications, the IM addressed to a recipient; determining at the primary IM processing client application whether the recipient of the IM is available to receive instant messages (IMs) at the primary IM processing device or at a secondary IM device of the recipient, wherein the secondary IM device reports its availability status to the primary IM processing device, an availability state of online-away or offline indicating that the recipient is not available to receive instant messages at a device having the online-away or offline state; in response to determining that the recipient is not available to receive instant messages at the primary IM processing device or at the secondary device, determining, at the primary IM processing client application, whether to send an E-mail message to the recipient; in response to determining to send an E-mail to the recipient, generating an E-mail message addressed to the recipient; and sending the E-mail message to the recipient.