System and method for routing communication sessions based on priority, presence and preference information

A communications system for routing communication sessions based on presence and preference information, comprising:

• a presence server capable of collecting presence information and preference information on a plurality of presentities, wherein said presence information for each of said plurality of presentities includes availability of devices of said respective presentity and said preference information for each of said plurality of presentities includes a priority level for one or more initiators and preference indications for each media type supported by each of said devices associated with said respective presentity;
• and
• a communications manager connected to receive a request for a communication session with a select one of said plurality of presentities from a select one of said one or more initiators, said request including an initiator identification and a select media type for said communication session;
• wherein said communications manager is operable to extract said presence information and said preference information of said select presentity from said presence server, identify a list of said devices of said select presentity that support said select media type and are accessible to said initiator based on said priority level granted to said select initiator in said preference information, filter said list using said presence information of said select presentity to identify available ones of said devices, determine a preference value for each of said available devices based on said respective preference indications and select a select one of said available devices having the highest preference value for said communication session.