When I used Hotmail outlook messenger to chat with my contacts on Skype, I was able to send and receive messages when I was 'unavailable' so as to prevent the messages from popping up as it would distract me. But lately, when I am 'unavailable' I was not receiving any messages from my contacts. I changed my status to 'available' that was only when I could send and receive messages to my contacts, with the pop up feature of my contact's instant message. Also, I am unable to send my contact any messages when he/she is offline.

Is this a problem with my messenger settings?
Sending offline messages to my contact when he/she is not online was never a problem. Has this feature been changed?

Is there any way I can chat when 'unavailable' as I thought it more convenient. My contacts messages would accumulate with a number showing how many messages I have received, which I can read when I want to. But I can't do that anymore.

I hope this issue can be resolved.