Patent ID: 8649485

Claim:
A system, comprising: a connection manager to trigger an automatic connection to a contacted party when the contacted party inputs an indicator that their status is available, in response to a connection request that specifies an auto-connect function; a storage device to store the connection request to be executed by the connection manager when the contacted party inputs the indicator that their status is available; and an email server to provide a first or second signal to the connection manager indicating whether the contacted party is available, wherein: when the contacted party is available, the email server provides the first signal when the email server detects at least one of: the contacted party turned off the contacted party's automatic reply function, the contacted party accessed the contacted party's email folder, and the contacted party sent an email, and when the contacted party is unavailable, the email server provides the second signal when the email server detects at least one of: the contacted party turned on the contacted party's automatic reply function, the contacted party's number of emails exceeds a specified number, and the contacted party has not accessed the contacted party's email for a specified time period.