Patent ID: 8725822

Claim:
A method for relaying presence information of one or more entities, wherein the one or more entities are participants in a scheduled activity, the method comprising a computer performing the steps of: obtaining a status of the scheduled activity from a first entity via an application loaded on a device of the first entity, wherein the first entity is a moderator of the scheduled activity; the moderator obtaining authorization from a second entity for the moderator to control and update the presence information of the second entity during the scheduled activity; updating the presence information of at least one of the first entity and the second entity in response to the status of the scheduled activity, wherein the updated presence information is representative of an availability of at least one of the first entity and the second entity; publishing the updated presence information of at least one of the first entity and the second entity; and the first entity detecting a presence or absence of the second entity at the scheduled activity and updating the presence information of the second entity based on said detecting, wherein the presence information of the second entity will not be controlled and updated during the scheduled activity if the second entity does not authorize the moderator to control the presence information of the second entity during the scheduled activity.