Patent ID: 7035865

Claim:
A method in a computer system for providing dynamic contact information, said method comprising the steps of: establishing a status system, including at least one status server and a plurality of clients; specifying, for a given client within the plurality of clients, a plurality of subscribed entities for which the given client subscribes to automatically receive an update of dynamic contact information of the plurality of subscribed entities from a dynamic contact information service, wherein the dynamic contact information service dynamically updates the dynamic contact information from a calendar system to indicate current contact information for the plurality of entities, and wherein the dynamic contact information comprises dynamic contact records indicating current statuses and information relating to the current statuses of the plurality of entities; retrieving a plurality of dynamic contact records for the plurality of entities from the dynamic contact information service, wherein the plurality of entities comprises the plurality of subscribed entities; sending the plurality of dynamic contact records to the at least one status server; identifying, at the at least one status server, at least one subscribed dynamic contact record from the plurality of dynamic contact records that corresponds to one of the plurality of subscribed entities; updating at least one dynamic contact record in the at least one status server with the at least one subscribed dynamic contact record; automatically sending the at least one subscribed dynamic contact record from the at least one status server to said given client; and displaying, at the given client, information for one of the plurality of subscribed entities from the at least one subscribed dynamic contact record based on display preferences specified by an operator of the given client.