An icon or file is provided to facilitate communications across a network. The icon or file represents a contact or set of contacts and is separate from the communications program's user interface. At least one action is executed in response to an operation performed on the icon or a command issued to the file. The actions may generally include, for example, retrieving profile information about the contact, setting an alert to indicate that the contact's network/login status has changed (e.g., login, logout, or idle), or performing communications with the contact. The action may be the same action that would be executed in response to an operation performed on a representation of the contact or set of contacts in a user interface of a communications program.