Patent ID: 8914446

Claim:
A computer program product including computer executable instructions stored onto a non-transitory computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor of a computer, causes the computer to perform a method for conducting an Instant Messaging (IM) session, the instructions comprising: instructions to receive a first IM message from a first IM client at a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) instant messaging server, wherein the received first IM message is destined for a second IM client; instructions to establish, via the SIP instant messaging server, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between the first IM client and the second IM client; instructions to generate automatically, at the SIP instant messaging server, a conversation identifier (ID) in response to determining that the conversation ID was not included in the received first IM message; if the conversation ID was not included in the received first IM message: instructions to create a new data structure in an archive for the received first IM message; and instructions to store the received first IM message with the conversation ID in the new data structure; instructions to send, by the SIP instant messaging server, the received first IM message with the conversation ID to the second IM client; instructions to receive a third IM message from a third IM client, wherein the third IM client is associated with a first user, wherein the first user is associated with the first IM client, and wherein the third IM message includes the conversation ID; instructions to retrieve at least a second IM message from the archive, wherein the second IM message is associated with the conversation ID; instructions to provide at least the second IM message to the second IM client; and instructions to provide at least the second IM message to the third IM client.