RFC 2778 (rfc2778) - Page 1 of 17

A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging

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Network Working Group                                          M. Day
Request for Comments: 2778                                      Lotus
Category: Informational                                  J. Rosenberg
                                                          dynamicsoft
                                                            H. Sugano
                                                              Fujitsu
                                                        February 2000


               A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines an abstract model for a presence and instant
   messaging system. It defines the various entities involved, defines
   terminology, and outlines the services provided by the system. The
   goal is to provide a common vocabulary for further work on
   requirements for protocols and markup for presence and instant
   messaging.

1. Introduction

   A presence and instant messaging system allows users to subscribe to
   each other and be notified of changes in state, and for users to send
   each other short instant messages. To facilitate development of a
   suite of protocols to provide this service, we believe that it is
   valuable to first develop a model for the system. The model consists
   of the various entities involved, descriptions of the basic functions
   they provide, and most importantly, definition of a vocabulary which
   can be used to facilitate discussion.

   We note that the purpose of this model is to be descriptive and
   universal: we want the model to map reasonably onto all of the
   systems that are informally described as presence or instant
   messaging systems. The model is not intended to be prescriptive or
   achieve interoperability: an element that appears in the model will
   not necessarily be an element of an interoperable protocol, and may
   not even be a good idea.



Day, et al.                  Informational
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