Patent ID: 8041020

Claim:
A method for communicating, comprising: transferring context information for a plurality of target devices to a calling device, wherein the context information comprises data representative of at least one of the group consisting of an availability profile and a connectivity state for each of the plurality of target devices; after receiving the context information, selecting, from the plurality of target devices, at least one recipient associated with a selected at least one target device to receive a voice call from a caller using the calling device; generating a call request at the calling device responsive to selecting the at least one recipient; wherein the connectivity state includes a reachable state and an unreachable state, wherein the selected at least one target device is in a reachable state when the selected at least one target device is in a powered state and connected to the communication network, and wherein the at selected least one target device is in an unreachable state when the selected at least one target device is in an un-powered state, disconnected from the communication network or engaged in a voice call; wherein the availability profile includes one of a group consisting of information manually selected by the recipient, information automatically selected in response to profile information of the at least one target device, call filter information, location of the at least one target device and calendar information; queuing the call request so as to defer transfer of the call request to the selected at least one target device in accordance with context information of both the selected at least one target device and the calling device; in accordance with the context information of both the selected at least one target device and the calling device indicating a reachable state, automatically delivering the call request from the calling device to the selected at least one target device of the selected at least one recipient via a data coupling; providing a delivery confirmation to the caller at the calling device in response to delivery of the transferred call request to the selected at least one target device; generating a plurality of response options on the selected at least one target device in response to receipt of the call request, wherein the response options include at least one of accepting the call request, postponing the call request, generating a return data message including a text message to the calling device or a voice message to the calling device, and initiating the voice call; and generating a response message in response to selection of a response option by the recipient on the selected at least one target device and transferring the response message to the calling device over the data coupling.