Selectable greeting messages

1. A method of providing selectable greetings in response to a request to initiate a communication, the method comprising:

maintaining, with a user profile database communicatively coupled with a communications bus, user profile information for a plurality of users;

sending, with an initiating device communicatively coupled with the communications bus, messages in a format specific to the initiating device via the communications bus;

storing, with the initiating device, first user profile information, about a user of the initiating device, in the user profile database;

sending and receiving common language messages with a recipient device via the communications bus;

translating, with the recipient device, common language messages received from the communications bus to a format specific to the recipient end device based on a type of the recipient device;

storing, with the recipient device, second user profile information, about a user of the recipient device, in the user profile database;

receiving, at a manager communicatively coupled with the communications bus, the request to initiate the communication from the initiating device, the request identifying the recipient device;

translating, with the manager, the request to initiate the communication from the format specific to the initiating device to the common language format;

in response to the translated request, selecting, with the manager, a greeting from a set of predetermined greetings in user profile information from a user of the recipient device;

generating a response message to the initiating device, the response message indicating the selected greeting; and

sending the response message to the initiating device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the greeting from the set of predetermined greetings is based on an identity of a user of the initiating device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein selecting the greeting from the set of predetermined greetings is further based on membership of the user of the initiating device in a group defined in the user profile information from the user of the recipient device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the greeting from a set of pre-determined greetings comprises selecting a plurality of possible greetings from the set of predetermined greetings.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, prior to generating the response message to the initiating device, providing notification of the request to the recipient device.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein, the notification comprises a presentation of an icon.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein, the notification further comprises,

a name and number for the originator of the communication; and

a list of options for handling the communication, the list of options comprising,

answering the communication, and

providing a greeting response to the communication.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein, the list of options comprises a series of audible instructions.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the notification includes an indication of each of the plurality of the possible greetings.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, prior to generating the response message to the initiating device, receiving a selection of one of the plurality of the possible greetings from the user of the recipient device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein generating the response message to the initiating device comprises generating a response message that includes an indication of the greeting selected by the user of the recipient device.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein, selecting a greeting comprises using a television remote control.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein, the greeting is selected automatically.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein, receiving a request to initiate a communication comprises receiving one of an email message and an Instant Message (IM).

15. A system for providing selectable greetings in response to a request to initiate a communication, the system comprising:

a communications bus;

a user profile database communicatively coupled with the communications bus, wherein the user profile database maintains and adapted to maintain user profile information for a plurality of users;

an initiating end device communicatively coupled with the communications bus, wherein the initiating end device (i) sends messages in a format specific to the initiating end device via the communications bus, and (ii) stores first user profile information, about a user of the initiating end device, in the user profile database;

a recipient end device communicatively coupled with the communications bus, wherein the recipient end device (i) sends and receives common language messages via the communications bus, (ii) translates common language messages received from the communications bus to a format specific to the recipient end device based on a type of the recipient end device, and (iii) stores second user profile information, about a user of the recipient end device, in the user profile database; and

a manager communicatively coupled with the communications bus, wherein the manager (i) receives the request to initiate the communication from the initiating end device, the request identifying the recipient end device, (ii) translates the request to initiate the communication from the format specific to the initiating end device to the common language format, and (iii) in response to the translated request, selects a greeting from a set of pre-determined greetings in user profile information from a user of the recipient end device.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the manager further generates a response message to the initiating end device, the response message indicating the selected greeting, and sends the response message to the initiating end device.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein, the response message comprises one of a pointer and an address of the selected greeting.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the manager selects the greeting from the set of pre-determined greetings based on an identity of a user of the initiating end device.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the manager further selects the greeting from the set of pre-determined greetings based on membership of the user of the initiating end device in a group defined in the user profile information from the user of the recipient end device.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the manager further selects a plurality of possible greetings from the set of pre-determined greetings.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the manager further provides notification of the request to the recipient end device.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the notification includes an indication of each of the plurality of the possible greetings.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the manager further receives a selection of one of the plurality of the possible greetings from the user of the recipient end device.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the manager further generates a response message to the initiating end device, wherein the response message includes an indication of the greeting selected by the user of the recipient end device.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the manager further sends the response message to the initiating end device.

26. The system of claim 15 wherein, the manager further (i) provides notification of the request to initiate a communication to the recipient end device, and (ii) selects a greeting from a set of pre-determined greetings based upon a response received from the recipient device.

27. The system of claim 15 wherein, the recipient end device comprises one of a plurality of recipient end devices, each of the plurality of recipient end devices being adapted to modify the set of pre-determined greetings in the user profile information in the user profile database.