Patent ID: 7127047

Claim:
Apparatus for establishing and maintaining communication among a group of users defining a community of interest, comprising: a plurality of communication devices for voice communication between users of said group, each of said communication devices including a display for indicating communication availability of said users; a plurality of device agents for controlling respective ones of said communication devices in establishing said voice communication and updating each said display; a plurality of user agents for maintaining user preferences, said user preferences including an indication of said interest with which said group is associated, and a list of said users of said group, and for enabling user selection of said group based on information relating activities of said user to said interest; a tuple space for exchanging tuples and anti-tuples between said user agents to monitor said communication availability, in response to which respective ones of said device agents update each respective display; a transient voice store for receiving and storing a voice message from a first one of said users to a second one of said users with whom said first user is desirous of communicating and who is indicated on the display of said first user as being available for communication, whereupon the display of said second user is updated to indicate receipt of said voice message, and for playing said voice message to said second user; and a communication switch for establishing two-way communication between said users; whereby in response to said second user listening to said voice message and provided that said first user is available for communication a voice path is created in said communication switch between said first user and said second user, and in the event said first user is no longer available for communication said second user stores a voice message for said first user via said transient message store.