Patent ID: 7801954

Claim:
A method in a server for providing expanded presence information, the method comprising: for each of a plurality of publishers of presence information, receiving from the publisher of presence information a definition of a presence model specifying a hierarchy of levels of presence states of the publisher and specifying presence states in which the publisher is online and offline and in which the publisher is available to communicate and a method of communication for the presence states, the hierarchy of levels of presence states including first-level presence states, each first-level presence state including second-level presence states that define presence states classified within the first-level presence state, such that the definition of the presence model of a first publisher is different from the definition of the presence model of a second publisher; storing the received definition of the presence model of the publisher; receiving expanded presence information from the publisher of presence information, the expanded presence information being information other than the presence information defined by the presence model of the publisher; receiving an indication of a current presence state of the publisher, the current presence state being a presence state within the presence model of the publisher; and storing the indication of the current presence state and the expanded presence information in association with the publisher; receiving from a subscriber a request to subscribe to presence information of a target publisher; determining from the stored definition of the presence model of the target publisher and the stored indication of the current presence state of the target publisher whether the target publisher's current present state is offline; when the target publisher's current presence state is not an offline presence state, providing to the subscriber the indication of the current presence state of the target publisher and an indication of whether the publisher is available to communicate and a method of communication as specified by the stored definition of the presence model of the target publisher; and when the target publisher's presence state is an offline presence state, providing to the subscriber an indication that the target publisher is offline along with the stored expanded presence information of the target publisher.