Patent ID: 7757003

Claim:
In a communication system, a method comprising: instantiating a plurality of transport protocol objects (TPOs) at a server, each of the plurality of TPOs adapted to provide a translation between a first instant messaging (IM) protocol and one of a plurality of different IM protocols and to provide a translation of an invitation for an IM session received from a user; establishing a plurality of connections between the plurality of TPOs and a plurality of IM servers, each of the plurality of IM servers adapted to transmit and receive IM messages using one of the different IM protocols; and providing a communication pathway between a plurality of IM user agents and the plurality of IM servers through the plurality of instantiated TPOs, the plurality of IM user agents adapted to transmit and receive IM messages using the first IM protocol, wherein the instantiating the plurality of TPOs comprises: receiving a single login name and password; correlating the single login name and password to a plurality of login names and passwords, each of the plurality of login names and passwords associated with one of a plurality of IM accounts, each of the plurality of IM accounts on one of a plurality of IM servers, each of the plurality of IM servers adapted to transmit and receive IM messages using one of the plurality of different IM protocols; retrieving information related to each of the different IM protocols; and conveying the retrieved information and the plurality of login names and passwords to one of the plurality of IM user agents.