US Patent 11778001 Conferencing application with instant messaging persona

Not every person can or should join an electronic conference (herein, “conference”) where they may contribute content to the conference. While a first set of participants are communicating, a question may arise to be addressed to an additional participant not participating in the conference. Rather than executing the overhead of joining the conference, a separate communication channel is established, such as via an instant messaging application of the additional participant. The additional participant is presented with a message, such as a question, which may indicate the sender is the conference itself. The additional participant replies via their IM application which is delivered to each of the conference participants and optionally included in a recording of the conference.