To automatically determine the availability status of the user of a handheld communication device, various conditions of the device may be checked, which imply whether the user is likely Available, or Unavailable or the equivalent. Normally, the conditions are checked only if the user has not explicitly or semi-explicitly set his or her status to Unavailable. The conditions to be checked can vary, but generally include anything from which it might be inferred or implied that the user is likely Available or Unavailable or the equivalent. Such conditions can include, for example, whether or not a specified timeout for use of a mechanical feature has elapsed; whether a real-time application is in use; and preferably any one or more of other conditions, one further example being whether there are any unattended-to notifications such as an unanswered phone call, or a missed e-mail, or other message.