How to verify web service available?

[Homa]

Hi all,

This is a very simple question. I want to know is there a way to check
if a web service is online or not. I know that the simplest solution is
to create an instance of the proxy class and call a method, or better
yet, create a dummy WebMethod that returns true. So if it is online, it
will return true, if it is not online, NetworkException is thrown.

Is there another way to do it?

Thanks,
Homa Wong