Patent ID: 7068769

Claim:
A method comprising: detecting whether a user is physically present at a particular station, wherein detecting whether the user is physically present at the particular station includes (i) detecting user interaction with a user-interface of the particular station and concluding that the user interaction indicates that the user is physically present at the particular station and (ii) determining an identity of the user interacting with the user-interface, wherein determining the identity of the user interacting with the user-interface comprises prompting the user to input a username; responsively sending an indication of whether the user is physically present at the particular station; receiving the indication of whether the user is physically present at the particular station; storing the indication in a registry; receiving into a network entity a signaling message associated with an incoming communication for the user; responsive to the signaling message, the network entity making a determination of whether the user is physically present at the particular station, wherein making the determination of whether the user is physically present at the particular station comprises consulting the registry to determine the indication; based at least in part on the determination, the network entity making a communication-routing decision using routing logic that indicates choices between the particular station and another station; and the network entity carrying out the communication-routing decision.