Presence system and method for providing access to web services

1. A presence system for providing access to web services, comprising:

a presence server for collecting and storing presence information on a presentity and providing said presence information to watchers of said presentity;

wherein said presence server is further operable to receive web service invocation information from said presentity, said web service invocation information providing access to one or more web services of said presentity;

wherein said presence server is further operable to provide said presence information and said web service invocation information of said presentity to said watchers of said presentity for use by said watchers in invoking said one or more web services of said presentity.

2. The presence system of claim 1 , wherein said web service invocation information associates a respective watcher identity with each of said one or more web services, and wherein said presence server is further operable to provide to at least a select one of said watchers said web service invocation information for a select one of said one or more web services associated with said watcher identity of said select one of said watchers.

3. The presence system of claim 1 , wherein said web service invocation information associates a respective presence state of said presentity with each of said one or more web services, and wherein said presence server is further operable to determine a current presence state of said presentity and to provide said web service invocation information for a select one of said one or more web services associated with said current presence state to at least one of said watchers.

4. The presence system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a presence user client associated with a select one of said watchers operable to receive said web service invocation information from said presence server and to provide said web service invocation information to said select one of said watchers.

5. The presence system of claim 4 , further comprising:

a terminal on which said presence user client is running, said terminal having a display and a graphical user interface operably coupled to said display for displaying said web service invocation information for at least a select one of said one or more web services, said graphical user interface being further operably coupled to said presence user client for enabling said select one of said watchers to invoke said select one of said one or more web services using said displayed web service invocation information.

6. The presence system of claim 5 , wherein said presence user client further maintains a list of presentities for whom said select one of said watchers is a watcher, and enables respective web service invocation information to be displayed on said display for each of said presentities on said list.

7. The presence system of claim 4 , wherein said presence user client is further operable to maintain said web service invocation information within a cache associated with said select one of said watchers.

8. The presence system of claim 7 , wherein said presence server is further operable to assign a web service identifier to each of said one or more web services associated with said presentity and to include within said web service invocation information said web service identifier for each of said one or more web services provided to said presence user client of said select one of said watchers.

9. The presence system of claim 8 , wherein said presence server is further operable to receive said presence information for said presentity and to provide said presence information and said web service identifier associated with said presence information of said presentity to said presence user client, and wherein said presence user client indexes on said cache using said received web service identifier to retrieve and display said web service invocation information associated with said received web service identifier.

10. The presence system of claim 9 , wherein said web service invocation information further associates a respective presence state of said presentity with each of said one or more web services, and wherein said presence server is further operable to determine a current presence state from said presence information of said presentity and to provide said web service identifier associated with said current presence state to said presence user client.

11. The presence system of claim 4 , wherein said web service information includes a link to a website providing a select one of said web services, and wherein said presence user client is further operable to access said select web service using said link.

12. The presence system of claim 11 , wherein said web service invocation information further includes a text string associated with at least one of said one or more web services.

13. The presence system of claim 11 , wherein said web service invocation information further includes an image associated with at least one of said one or more web services.

14. A method for providing presence-based access to web services, comprising the steps of:

receiving web service invocation information from a presentity, said web service invocation information providing access to one or more web services of said presentity;

subscribing watchers to presence information of said presentity; and

providing said presence information and said web service invocation information of said presentity to said watchers for use by said watchers in invoking said one or more web services of said presentity.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said receiving further includes:

associating a respective watcher identity with each of said one or more web services accessible through said web service invocation information, wherein each said watcher identity identifies one or more of said watchers, and wherein said providing further includes:

providing to a select one of said one or more watchers said web service invocation information of a select one of said one or more web services associated with said watcher identity of said select one of said watchers.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein said receiving further includes:

associating a respective presence state of said presentity with each of said one or more web services accessible through said web service invocation information, and wherein said providing further includes:

determining a current presence state of said presentity; and

providing said web service invocation information of a select one of said one or more web services associated with said current presence state to at least one of said watchers.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising the steps of:

receiving said web service invocation information for at least a select one of said one or more web services at a select one of said watchers; and

enabling said select one of said watchers to invoke said select one of said one or more web services using said web service invocation information.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

maintaining said web service invocation information within a cache associated with said select one of said watchers.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said providing further comprises:

assigning a web service identifier to each of said one or more web services associated with said presentity; and

including within said web service invocation information provided to said select one of said watchers said web service identifier for each of said one or more web services provided to said select one of said watchers.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

receiving said presence information for said presentity;

providing said presence information and said web service identifier associated with said presence information of said presentity to said select one of said watchers; and

indexing on said cache using said received web service identifier to retrieve and display said web service invocation information associated with said received web service identifier.