In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a method using presence information to manage network access includes maintaining presence information for an end user. When a remote access request is received from the end user at a remote endpoint, the presence information for the end user is updated to identify the presence of the end user at one or more network endpoints associated with a private network. An access point to the private network is then automatically configured to allow any communications addressed to an IP address associated with the one or more network endpoints to pass through the access point.