Patent ID: 7801946

Claim:
A system for accessing web services via an instant messaging client, comprising: a hardware processor configured to: receive a first instant message from an instant messaging client, wherein the first instant message includes a configuration command that identifies a Web Service Description Language (WSDL) file for a web service; receive a second instant message from the instant messaging client, wherein the second instant message includes a user command that names a web service command that invokes the web service identified in the configuration command; generate linking information that links the user command to the web service identified in the configuration command and the web service command named in the user command, wherein the processor stores the generated linking information in a database; receive, after the linking information is generated and stored in the database, a third instant message from the instant messaging client, wherein the third instant message includes the user command that names the web service command and one or more parameters for the user command; and generate a call to the web service command based on the linking information stored in the database, wherein the call to the web service command includes the one or more parameters for the user command in a predetermined format associated with the web service command; and a web services engine that invokes the web service identified in the configuration command with the generated call to the web service command, receives results from the web service in response to the web service processing the generated call to the web service command, and sends the results received from the web service to the instant messaging client.