Patent ID: 8375092

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a computer based system configured to support real-time communication, a request for a real-time communication, wherein the request includes a list of users to participate in the real-time communication; querying, by the computer based system, a presence database to obtain online presence data associated with the list of users; determining, by the computer based system, that a user on the list of users is unavailable to participate in the real-time communication based on the online presence data associated with the unavailable user; determining, by the computer based system, availability of an alternative user based on the online presence data associated with the alternative user in response to the unavailable user being unavailable to participate in the real-time communication; substituting, by the computer based system, the alternative user to participate in the real-time communication for the unavailable user; receiving, by the computer based system, a presence change message associated with the unavailable user; processing, by the computer based system, a rule having a logical structure defining a relationship between the online presence data, the presence change message, and the real-time communication, the processing of the rule including determining whether the real-time communication should be performed based at least in part on the presence change message; and performing, by the computer based system, the real-time communication.