Patent ID: 7975009

Claim:
A method of processing an instant message, from an instant message source, to a multi-agent contact distribution system having a plurality of agents for handling the instant message, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at a proxy server a subscription message from the instant message source incorporating a published address of the multi-agent contact distribution system; determining whether the multi-agent contact distribution system has registered a presence with a registration server and if registered, sending a message to the instant message source signaling availability of the multi-agent contact distribution system to receive instant messages and providing to the instant message source a unique instant message address different than the published address for the multi-agent contact distribution system to receive the instant message; receiving at a buffer server the instant message addressed to the unique instant message address from the instant message source and setting up an instant message session between the instant message source and the multi-agent contact distribution system and assigning a unique session ID in response thereto; sending the instant message to a message queue associated with the buffer server if none of the plurality of agents is available to handle the instant message; and automatically generating and sending a status message to the instant message source of the instant message while the message is in the message queue based upon the status of the instant message in the message queue by setting up an instant message reporting session between the buffer server and a reporting processor, the reporting processor creating the status message, sending the status message via an instant message in the instant message reporting session to the buffer server, the buffer server translating the status message to readdress the status message to the instant message source and sending the translated message to the instant message source.