Comverse this week released its first presence server, a standalone designed to add real-time presence functionality to legacy messaging services and evolve into a fully supported IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) application.

Simply called Comverse Presence Server, the solution is Comverse’s answer to the growing demand for the data, messaging and voice integration IMS is expected to bring when the layer-technology is deployed next year and beyond. The server monitors a user’s availability on the network and updates that information in contact lists across the network, similar to buddy list presence controls on PC IM clients.

The presence server isn’t just designed for IM service, though. Comverse said the solution can be tied into SMS, MMS and even push-to-talk solutions from Comverse and third-party vendors. In addition, the presence client could allow a user to indicate what form of communication is willing or unwilling to accept, allowing potential callers to decide and initiate the most appropriate call or message from the buddy menu.

While Comverse designed the server to function over legacy networks, it’s intended to be a critical element of an IMS architecture, Comverse officials said. Instead of integrating the solution on a one-on-one basis with other applications, an IMS-based presence server would act as a centralized component of the IP network, allowing carriers to add presence onto any other service at their choosing.

So far, IMS is still in its early deployment phases. A few carriers in Europe have committed to IMS as launching point for advanced services like push-to-talk, but in the U.S. wireline/wireless integration has generated more enthusiasm for the platform as carriers look to leverage both their traditional wireless networks as well as their mobile assets. Sprint has been the only carrier to publicly announce an IMS deployment, but many other carriers, wireline and wireless, are evaluating the technology. Integration would add an additional level to presence-based solutions like Comverse’s as it would bridge IM and voice functionality across both networks.