Patent ID: 8078688

Claim:
A system comprising: a first gateway device located at a first user premises and operable to provide and manage services of a first endpoint device; a second gateway device located at a second user premises and operable to provide and manage services of a second endpoint device, the second user premises being different than the first user premises; and a third endpoint device not associated with the first and second gateway devices and not on the first and second user premises, wherein the first gateway device includes: a local area network interface for enabling bi-directional communications via a local area network with the first endpoint device associated with the first gateway device; a wide area network interface for enabling bi-directional communications via a wide-area network with the second endpoint device associated with the second gateway device; and a processor coupled to the interfaces and configured to: manage file sharing across the wide area network through presence and network messaging communication between the first gateway device and the second gateway device, access a file to share, the file received from the first endpoint device associated with the first gateway device, selectively make the accessed file available for sharing with the second gateway device and the second endpoint device utilizing the wide area network interface and the wide area network, manage file sharing across the wide area network through presence and network messaging communication between the first gateway device and the third endpoint device, selectively make the accessed file available for sharing with the third endpoint device utilizing the wide area network interface and the wide area network, and send a notification across the wide area network to the third endpoint device notifying the third endpoint device that the accessed file is available for sharing.