US8473545B2 · Google Patents →
Auto-set your Skype status from your calendar and tell contacts when you'll be free. TL;DR the "in a meeting until 3 pm" status message, automated.
A system for automatically determining and distributing user availability status in packet-based communication networks.
Rather than requiring manual updates, the communication client analyses calendar data to automatically set appropriate presence states — such as “online”, “away” or “do not disturb” — and generates supplementary mood messages indicating when the user’s status will change.
The system periodically checks schedule entries and transmits updated availability information to contacts, providing more accurate presence information without requiring constant user intervention.
Cited by
Patents referencing this work have been filed by IBM, Google, Samsung, AT&T, Sony, Genband and Citrix, among others — covering everything from wearable messaging to workspace presence synchronisation.
