Managing access to communication sessions with communication identifiers of users and using chat applications

An apparatus comprising:

• a network interface unit to communicate with a network;
• and
• a processor coupled to the network interface unit and configured to provide a service that manages access to communication sessions supported by at least one communication service and to which user devices connect, wherein the processor is configured to:
• assign to users registered with the service respective communication identifiers that each indicate a respective user identifier of a user registered with the service and that the users and unregistered users of the service use to access the communication sessions via user devices;
• map each communication identifier to a list of communication sessions, if any, in which the respective user is currently participating and/or is scheduled to participate;
• receive from a user device a join request from a requester, the join request indicating a particular communication identifier of a particular user registered with the service and a requester identifier;
• examine the list of communication sessions mapped to the particular communication identifier, and compare the requester identifier to a particular user identifier indicated by the particular communication identifier;
• and
• based on results of the examine and the compare operations, connect the user device to a communication session, if any, based on the particular communication identifier and the requester identifier.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer usable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to provide a service that manages access to communication sessions supported by at least one communication service and to which user devices connect, wherein the instructions to cause the processor to provide the service include instructions to cause the processor to:

• assign to users registered with the service respective communication identifiers that the users and unregistered users of the service use to access the communication sessions via user devices;
• receive from the at least one communication service first information indicating the communication sessions in which the users are participating, and receive from a calendar service second information indicating communication sessions in which the users are scheduled to participate and invitees to the communication sessions in which the users are scheduled to participate
• map each communication identifier to a list of communication sessions, if any, in which the respective user is currently participating and/or is scheduled to participate and associated invitees based on the received first information and second information;
• receive from a user device a join request from a requester, the join request indicating a particular communication identifier of a particular user registered with the service and a requester identifier;
• and
• connect the user device to a communication session, if any, based on the particular communication identifier and the requester identifier.