I disagree...
1) The icons do
NOT show the current status of the person:
"brb", "away", "lunch" show the same icon
"busy", "telephone" show the same icon
2) Also, what about custom statusses? If the status isn't shown then custom statusses can't be shown also... (I know you suggested it to be an option, but still...)
3) If something is going to change/needs to be changed, then the only thing I can think of is:
* replace the "blocked" status with the real status; as you can't see (without looking in the eventlog) if the user is online, busy, away, etc. while he is blocked....
PS: double posting isn't allowed
PSS: Welcome
/ 
