System and method for global positioning system (GPS) based presence

1. A telecommunications system, comprising:

a plurality of network clients including a positioning controller and a communications controller;

a positioning server including a coordinating controller for maintaining a database of network clients to be tracked and provide updates of position-related information of a user to a presence server, the presence server defining one or more associated location/presence correlation pairs defining a geographical area including a user-defined boundary around one or more locations and corresponding presence status;

wherein a presence status of the user is maintained if the network client is within the borders of the geographical area;

a mapping engine for defining the geographical area;

wherein said plurality of network clients are configured to transmit position information received via said positioning controller to said positioning server via said communications controller, said communications controller comprising a telephony controller;

wherein the location/presence correlation pairs further include availability status indicia over a plurality of media associated with the user; and

a first timer for providing a timer tick for confirming functionality of the network clients and a second timer for providing one or more hysteresis indications to prevent speed and boundary toggling.

2. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said positioning controller receives global positioning network signals for determining a position of an associated network client.

3. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 2 , wherein said communications controller comprises a cellular network controller for transmitting on a cellular telephone network to said positioning server.

4. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein positioning server includes an e-mail message generator for communicating said updates to said presence server.

5. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein positioning server includes an Instant Messaging message generator for communicating said updates to said presence server.

6. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein positioning server includes a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message generator for communicating said updates to said presence server.

7. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said presence server maintains a database of location and presence correlation pairs for registered users and receives location updates from said positioning server.

8. A telecommunications system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said positioning server maintains a database of location and presence correlation pairs for registered users and provides presence updates to said presence server.

9. A telecommunications device, comprising:

a positioning controller adapted to determine positioning information for said telecommunications device;

a cellular telephone controller adapted to receive said positioning information from said positioning controller and cause said positioning information to be transmitted to an associated server via a telephony controller;

wherein the telecommunications device includes a rules database and is configured to receive one or more location-presence correlation rules for storing in the rules database from a user mapping engine, the user mapping engine further configured to allow a user to define a location and a user-defined boundary around the location, the one or more location-presence correlation rules further defining a user availability over an associated plurality of user devices and media; and

a first timer for providing a timer tick for confirming functionality of the telecommunications device and a second timer for providing one or more hysteresis indications to prevent speed and boundary toggling.

10. A telecommunications device as recited in claim 9 , wherein said positioning controller receives Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to determine said positioning information.

11. A telecommunications device as recited in claim 9 , wherein said cellular telephone controller transmits changes to location and presence status to said associated server.

12. A telecommunications device as recited in claim 9 , wherein said cellular telephone controller transmits changes to location status to said associated server.

13. A telecommunications device as recited in claim 9 , wherein said cellular telephone controller receives updates to said rules database from said associated server.

14. A telecommunications server, comprising:

a presence control unit adapted to receive and maintain presence information for a plurality of users, the presence information including availability information defining user availability over a plurality of devices and media;

a location control unit adapted to receive and maintain location information for said plurality of users, said location information correlated with said presence information;

a first telephony interface for receiving predefined presence-location correlation rules from associated users, said rules including a geographical area defined by a mapping engine, the geographical area including a user-defined boundary associated with the area; and

a first timer for providing a timer tick for confirming functionality and a second timer for providing one or more hysteresis indications to prevent speed and boundary toggling.

15. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 14 , wherein receiving said location information comprises receiving user-positioning updates from a remote user from an operably coupled wireless network.

16. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 15 , wherein said operably coupled wireless network comprises a cellular telephone network.

17. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 15 , wherein said operably coupled wireless network comprises a personal communication service (PCS) network.

18. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 15 , further comprising a second interface for transmitting user-positioning updates to an operably coupled enterprise server.

19. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 18 wherein said receiving said user-positioning updates comprises receiving said user-positioning updates via a telephone dial-in and said second interface comprises an email interface.

20. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 18 wherein said receiving said user-positioning updates comprises receiving said user-positioning updates via a telephone dial-in and said second interface comprises a text messaging interface.

21. A telecommunications server in accordance with claim 15 , further comprising a second interface for transmitting user-positioning updates to one or more local users in a packet telephony format.

22. A telecommunications method, comprising:

generating one or more user positioning and presence correlation rules, said generating including defining one or more geographical areas using a mapping engine, said one or more geographical areas including one or more user-defined boundaries around one or more locations;

generating one or more user availability rules defining an availability of a user across plural media;

receiving said one or more user positioning and presence correlation rules and said one or more user availability rules at a local controller via a telephony interface;

transmitting said one or more positioning and presence correlation rules and said one or more user availability rules to a remote device via a telephony interface; and

providing a timer tick for confirming functionality and providing one or more hysteresis indications to prevent speed and boundary toggling.

23. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 22 , further comprising:

receiving positioning updates at said remote device; and

transmitting presence updates to other local controllers or remote devices as specified in said one or more positioning and presence correlation rules.

24. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 23 , wherein said receiving one or more user positioning and presence correlation rules comprises receiving at a server one or more rules set via a network interface device operably coupled to said one or more local controllers.

25. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 24 , wherein said receiving positioning updates comprises receiving one or more signals from a global positioning network.

26. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 23 , further comprising transmitting positioning updates from said remote device to one or more servers via a radio-linked network.

27. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 26 , wherein said radio-linked network comprises a cellular telephone network.

28. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 26 , wherein said radio-linked network comprises a personal communication service (PCS) network.

29. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 26 , wherein said one or more user positioning and presence correlation rules comprise one or more time-of-day parameters.

30. A telecommunications method in accordance with claim 26 , wherein said one or more user positioning and presence correlation rules comprise one or more day-of-week parameters.