System and method for displaying a called party calendar on a voice over IP phone display

A method for displaying a contact's availability information on a display of a voice over internet protocol (IP) phone, comprising:

• sending a request for a selected telephone contact's availability information from the IP phone to a web service calendar module operable on a web server, wherein the IP phone and the web server are connected through a network;
• extracting the selected telephone contact's availability information from an application server connected to the web server through the network, wherein the application server operates a central data repository;
• formatting the availability information for display in a graphical interface on the IP phone, wherein the information is formatted using a web application module operable on the web server;
• and
• displaying the availability information for the telephone contact on the IP phone to enable a user to determine when the selected telephone contact is available to receive a telephone call.

A method for displaying multiple contacts availability information on a display of a voice over internet protocol (IP) phone, comprising:

• selecting at least two telephone contacts using a graphical user interface on the IP phone;
• sending a request for the at least two telephone contact's availability information from the IP phone to a web service calendar module;
• extracting the at least two telephone contact's availability information from a central data repository in an application server in communication with the web service calendar module;
• determining a mutually available time for the at least two telephone contacts based on the contacts availability information;
• formatting the availability information for display in a graphical interface on the IP phone;
• and
• displaying the availability information for the at least two telephone contacts on the IP phone to enable a user to determine when the at least two telephone contacts are available to receive a telephone call.