A method and apparatus are disclosed that provide a technique for managing
held calls. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present
invention, a call-handling system receives a first indication of whether
a messaging resource is available at or near a terminal for which the
system is receiving incoming calls. Examples of messaging resources
include instant messaging, email, short messaging service, and so forth.
The system might also receive a second indication of whether a messaging
resource is available at or near the originating terminal of an incoming
call. If the first indication and second indication match, the system
will prompt the caller of the originating terminal to use the available
messaging resource. In some embodiments, the system will also assign the
corresponding incoming call a lower priority relative to other calls
because of the availability of the alternative form of communication to
the caller.