Instant messaging device/server protocol

A generic IM device/server protocol permits a single implementation of a IM application on client devices for communicating with different enterprise IM servers types. The protocol defines a server maintained tag to identify the currency of a contact list it is managing for a client device. The client device receives and persists the tag and provides it at login. The server automatically sends a contact list update only if the tag indicates the client devices contact list instance is not current. Presence updates may also be sent automatically at login and the client device need not separately request contact list or presence updates at login. The client device may be pre-provisioned with respective graphics, text and server capabilities for multiple server types. A specific IM configuration may be selected in response to service information.