US Patent 7533153 Method for managing instant messaging presence by group

A computer implemented method for managing IM presence based on task context, comprising storing group affiliations for a requesting IM user and a target IM user. A request from the requesting IM user is received for the target IM user's status. The requesting IM user's group affiliation is determined. The target IM user's status relationship associated with the requesting IM user's group affiliation is determined. The status relationship for the target IM user is returned to the requesting IM user. Communication from the requesting IM user is forwarded to a predefined reroute destination if the target IM user has defined the reroute destination for communication originating from the requesting IM user's group affiliation.