Forester Research calls Presence Management, "Dial-tone for people."

It's true. Just like the familiar hum of the telephone network's readiness to deliver service, presence—indicated as an on-hook icon, a bolded and black word, or a happy person icon—indicates the publisher's readiness to participate in a dialog, communication, or telephone call with any subscriber.

The 3Com® Presence module delivers self-selecting online and offline status for NBX® system users or any PBX or IP-PBX user. However, with the SIP interworking capabilities of the 3Com VCX™ IP Telephony module, subscribers can also detect on-hook or off-status. This capability can reduce voicemail tag, improve employee productivity, and accelerate business.

Today, many companies rely on free public services which are fraught with security issues since the entire dialog is available across the Internet. Users are also frequently confronted with annoying and inappropriate advertisements and screen names that are better suited to after-hours than during business hours.

3Com enhances the security, streamlines the activation of presence, and ensures a business-oriented presence service. Interoperability with other real-time presence management systems is available through support of SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE).