US Patent 11863333 Messaging conference participants prior to joining a conference

A conference system obtains information associated with a conference that is in progress. The conference system transmits a graphical output associated with the conference to a client device for display. Prior to the client device joining the conference, the conference system receives a message to initiate a communication with a participant device that is present in the conference. The conference system grants the client device access to an in-conference communication application associated with the conference in progress to communicate with the participant device without the client device having to join the conference.