Predicting availability of instant messaging users

An instant messaging data processing system, comprising:

• an instant messaging server with at least one processor and memory and configured for communicative coupling to a plurality of instant messaging clients over a computer communications network;
• a data store of instant messaging statistics indicating when different collaborators in an instant messaging system become available and unavailable;
• and,
• probabilistic prediction logic coupled to each of the instant messaging server and the data store, the logic comprising program code enabled when executing in the memory by the at least one processor to select a particular one of the different collaborators, to compute a probabilistic likelihood that the particular one of the collaborators will become available by a specified time, and to render in a probabilistic pop-up within at least part of an instant messaging window of the instant messaging system, the computed probabilistic likelihood and also the specified time that the particular one of the different collaborators will become available, the probabilistic pop up configured to be a portion of a size of the instant messaging window and also rendered in response to the detection of a proximity event for the selected particular one of the different collaborators, the specified time being an activatable specified time control being adjustable by a collaborator different from the particular one of the different collaborators, the specified time consisting of one of a time of day and a range of time in a day.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable memory embodying computer usable program code for probabilistic prediction for instant messaging, the computer program product comprising:

• computer usable program code for collecting statistics for when different collaborators in an instant messaging system become available and unavailable;
• computer usable program code for selecting a particular one of the different collaborators;
• computer usable program code for computing a probabilistic likelihood that the particular one of the collaborators will become available by a specified time;
• and,
• computer usable program code for rendering in a probabilistic pop up within at least part of an instant messaging window of the instant messaging system, the computed probabilistic likelihood and also the specified time that the particular one of the different collaborators will become available, the probabilistic pop up configured to be a portion of a size of the instant messaging window and also rendered in response to the detection of a proximity event for the selected particular one of the different collaborators, the specified time being an activatable specified time control being adjustable by a collaborator different from the particular one of the different collaborators, the specified time consisting of one of a time of day and a range of time in a day.