Tool or Toy?

With the exception of email, few applications in history have grown as rapidly in popularity as instant messaging (IM).  IM now represents a revolution in corporate communications.  Gartner Group research forecasts 70 percent of all businesses will use IM by 2007 for some form of business-to-client communication.  So how will you manage its proper use?

What is Instant Messaging?

Instant Messaging solutions allow simple email-like chat between users.  Now IM also supports voice and video.  So what’s the attraction with this communication?  As the name suggests, it's instant.  The most common applications are Microsoft Messenger (MSN), Yahoo and Google Talk.  IM is available from mobile phones as well as your PC.  It allows multi-way chat, file transfers, and whiteboard functionality. In short there is an IM revolution going on.  

The risks of Instant Messaging

IM today has limited standards that define how the different IM products communicate.  This hinders B2B and B2C communications because it only works if you use the same IM application as your clients.

Since the majority of IM use is via the Internet – even for internal communications there are issues of security and manageability.  Given that IM is a means by which people communicate, it is reasonable to expect that at some point information will “leak” from your company via IM.  As you can imagine, this is enough to make the legal (and auditing) types protest, and rightly so.

In addition to concerns like downloads of virus infected files, there are issues such as identity theft and eavesdropping.  Some companies are concerned with today’s IM challenges and block Instant Messaging completely.  Products that provide logging of IM conversations enable you to ensure that IM is not becoming a distraction.  Misuse of IM is a concern to many companies, as is Internet and e-mail use in general.  Many organisations log all e-mail with a view to regulatory compliance and there is no reason why IM should not be subject to the same level of scrutiny.

IM – the free conferencing tool

There are certain aspects, though, where IM is a clear winner. One of these is conferencing.  That means four or five people can participate in an IM discussion concurrently. Compare this effectively free solution with the cost and hassle of arranging a conference call.  Then consider that people can be conferenced in from all over the world with no long distance charges and there is no comparison between technologies.

Another benefit of IM is that it shows “presence” across a range of communication devices.  When users log into IM on their PC, they become available. They can show availability through IM settings such as "Away" and "Do Not Disturb." If they log off their PC and switch on their wireless handheld, they are once again present even though they may now be away from their phone. The presence aspect of IM allows an individual to be available (or unavailable) at any point and from a multitude of devices.

Instant Messaging is here to stay.  How you control and secure it is a major challenge that should not be overlooked.