How to Keep Your Cisco Jabber Status Available

To keep your Cisco Jabber status Available, raise the inactivity timer and turn off away-on-lock. In Jabber for Windows, open File > Options > Status (on a Mac, Jabber > Preferences > Status), set the minutes before Jabber shows you as Away to the highest value allowed, and untick the option to show Away when you lock the computer. Cisco's parameter reference gives the defaults: Jabber changes to Away after 15 minutes of inactivity, and, on Windows, as soon as you lock the operating system. If the settings are greyed out, your IT team sets them in jabber-config.xml.

Why Jabber leaves Available

The Away timer counts time without keyboard or mouse input. Picking Available by hand does not stop it: after the timer runs out, Jabber sets Away again.

Change the Away timer in Jabber for Windows and Mac

Windows

• In the Jabber hub window, open the File menu (or the gear menu), then Options.
• Select the Status tab.
• Next to Show my status as Away when I am inactive for, set the number of minutes. Higher means more time before Away.
• Untick Show my status as Away when I lock my computer if you want to stay Available while the screen is locked.
• Select Apply and OK.

Mac

Open Jabber > Preferences > Status and change the same inactivity setting. The lock option in Cisco's reference applies to Jabber for Windows only.

Some companies lock these settings. If they are greyed out or reset after you restart Jabber, the values come from IT.

The jabber-config.xml parameters IT controls

Cisco's Parameters Reference Guide for Cisco Jabber lists three client options, in the Options group:

An admin sets them in the jabber-config.xml file that Jabber downloads from the TFTP server:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<config version="1.0">
  <Options>
    <Set_Status_Inactive_Timeout>60</Set_Status_Inactive_Timeout>
    <Set_Status_Away_On_Lock_OS>false</Set_Status_Away_On_Lock_OS>
  </Options>
</config>

Jabber reads the file when it signs in, so users need to sign out and back in to pick up a change. A thread on the Cisco Community forum reports that changing Set_Status_Inactive_Timeout had no effect on Jabber for iPhone; the timer is a desktop setting.

In a meeting, On a call and Offline

In a meeting comes from your Outlook calendar. The University at Buffalo's Jabber guide maps it this way: a Busy calendar entry shows In a meeting, and Out of Office in the calendar shows Away. To stop it, turn off calendar-based status in Jabber's Options (the Calendar or Status tab, depending on version), or in the Cisco Unified Communications Self Care portal under IM & Availability, untick Automatically update status when there is a meeting on my calendar.

On a call is set while Jabber, or the desk phone Jabber controls, is in a call. It clears when you hang up.

Offline means Jabber is not connected: you closed it, signed out, lost the network, or the computer went to sleep. Stopping sleep is covered in how to stop your computer from sleeping.

If you cannot change the settings

Only input resets the Away timer. Keeping the computer awake stops Offline, but not Away. A mouse jiggler or a key-press script creates input and keeps Jabber Available on a desktop; what those look like to IT is in can a mouse jiggler be detected. The same rules apply to other chat apps: how to keep your Webex status active covers Cisco's newer app, which many companies are moving Jabber users to, and how to keep your Teams status Available covers Microsoft Teams.

FAQ

How long before Jabber shows Away? 15 minutes without keyboard or mouse input by default. On Windows, it also shows Away when you lock the computer.

How do I stop Jabber from going Away? In Options > Status, raise the inactivity minutes and untick away-on-lock. If the settings are locked, IT sets them in jabber-config.xml.

Why does Jabber say In a meeting when I am not in one? Jabber reads your Outlook calendar. A Busy event shows In a meeting; turn off calendar status in Options or the Self Care portal.

Why is my Jabber status stuck on Away? Pick Available by hand. If it stays, sign out and back in to refresh presence.

Does Jabber on iPhone have an away timer? The inactivity timer parameter is for desktop clients. Mobile Jabber follows its own rules for background and sleep.