Patent ID: 7529853

Claim:
An apparatus for enabling instant message (IM) communications for a plurality of IM clients, the apparatus comprising: storage for storing a plurality of usernames for each of the plurality of IM clients, wherein each of the plurality of usernames for an IM client is associated with a different protocol; a receiver configured to receive a message from a first IM client in the plurality of IM clients, the message sent to a first username in the plurality of usernames associated with a second IM client in the plurality of IM clients; a converter configured to convert the received message from a first protocol associated with the first username to a second protocol associated with a second username; and a transmitter configured to send the converted message to the second username in the plurality of usernames associated with the second IM client, wherein the receiver is configured to receive a second message from the second IM client for a third username in the one or more usernames associated with the first IM client; and wherein the transmitter is configured to send the second message to a fourth username in the one or more usernames associated with the first IM client.