Computer telephony headset with presence indicator

1. A computer telephony headset for supporting communication of audio data over a network via a host device of the network, the headset comprising:

an earpiece operable to receive electronic audio signals and render the electronic audio signals audible to a user wearing the headset;

a microphone attached to the earpiece and operable to convert sounds into transmitted electronic signals;

a processor configured to receive presence data generated by the host device for sending to a server on the network and accessible by one or more other devices on the network, the presence data representative of a network presence status of the user; and

a visual indicator operably connected to the processor for providing a visual indication of the network presence status of the user based on the presence data.

2. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the network presence status is representative of one or both of the user's availability and the user's willingness to communicate.

3. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein said earpiece includes a fastener selected from a headband and an ear hook.

4. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator is disposed on the headset.

5. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , further comprising a boom attached to the earpiece, the boom receiving the microphone at a distal end of the boom, wherein the visual indicator is positioned at the distal end of the boom.

6. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , further comprising:

a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector for connecting the headset to the host device.

7. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , further comprising a control module electrically coupled to the headset, said control module including one or more of:

a volume control configured to selectively increasing or decreasing a volume of the electronic audio signals;

a mute button configured to selectively turn the microphone on and off; and

a hook button configured to selectively take an associated softphone application on the host device on-hook and off-hook.

8. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the presence data from the host device as report data in a Human Interface Device (HID) output report.

9. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , further comprising:

an oscillator operably connected to said processor, said oscillator for synchronizing receiving, processing, and outputting operations of said processor.

10. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein said visual indicator includes a light-emitting diode (LED) light source.

11. The computer telephony headset of claim 10 , wherein said LED light source is a color mixing LED including a plurality of LED elements, wherein at least two of the plurality of LED elements emit light at different wavelengths.

12. The computer telephony headset of claim 10 , wherein the color mixing LED includes three LED elements, wherein the three LED elements are configured to emit, respectively, red light, green light, and blue light.

13. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the presence data is representative of a network presence status selected from: “offline,” “available,” “busy,” and “away”.

14. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the presence data is representative of a network presence status selected from: “available,” “busy,” “do not disturb,” “urgent interruptions only,” and “away”.

15. The computer telephony headset of claim 1 , wherein the presence data is representative of a network presence status selected from: “online/available,” “idle,” “busy,” “busy/idle,” “away,” “do not disturb,” “offline,” “online/idle,” and “ring”.

16. A computer telephony system of a type that allows two-way audio communication over a network, the system comprising:

a computer processor based host device in communication with a server, the host device configured to generate presence data representative of a network presence status of the user, said presence data for sending to the server over the network and accessible by one or more other devices on the network; and

a headset including: (i) an earpiece operable to receive electronic audio signals and render the electronic audio signals audible to the user; (ii) a microphone attached to the earpiece and operable to convert sounds into transmitted electronic signals; (iii) a processor configured to receive the presence data from the host device; and (iv) a visual indicator operably connected to the processor for providing a visual indication of the network presence status of the user based on the presence data.

17. The computer telephony system of claim 16 , wherein said server includes presence software selected from messaging software, Microsoft Lync, Avaya One-X, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

18. The computer telephony system of claim 16 , wherein said visual indicator includes a multi-color light-emitting diode (LED) light source.

19. The computer telephony system of claim 18 , wherein the visual indication is color coded, and further wherein the processor is configured to cause the visual indicator to display a color which is the same as a network presence status indication color published to said one or more other devices over the network.

20. A method for displaying a visually perceptible indication of a computer telephony user's availability and/or willingness to communicate, the method comprising:

providing a computer telephony headset for supporting communication of audio data over a network via a host device of the network, the headset comprising: (i) an earpiece operable to receive electronic audio signals and render the electronic audio signals audible to the user; (ii) a microphone attached to the earpiece and operable to convert sounds into transmitted electronic signals; (iii) a processor configured to receive presence data generated by the host device for sending to a server over the network, the presence data representative of a network presence status of the user; and (iv) a visual indicator operably connected to the processor for providing a visual indication of the network presence status of the user based on the presence data;

receiving the presence data from the host device using the processor; and

activating the visual indicator to provide a visual indication of the network presence status of the user based on the presence data.