In light of the recent America Online-Time Warner merger,
a lot of discussion has centered around the concept of
instant messaging. What exactly is instant messaging?
How can it help facilitate communication inside the
workplace?

Instant messaging is a fairly simple idea. When people
are at their computer, they login to a network which
notifies their friends or co-workers of their
availability. It is then possible for these people to
type messages to one another and send them over the
network regardless of where the other people are.

The fact that it is possible to communicate with people 
without having to know where they are is a major benefit.
There is no need to try to hunt someone down if they
are not at their desk as long as they're logged into
the network. Another boon is that it is possible to
type out complicated instructions, web site URLs or 
other information so they can see it clearly rather 
than constantly having to repeat it over the phone if
it was not clear. Sending someone an instant message 
when all that is needed is a simple answer or to send 
a reminder is also much less intrusive than having to 
pick up a phone, dial a number and waiting for an answer. 
Since instant messages do not interrupt either party for 
as long as a call or a trip to their workstation there is 
less of an impact on productivity.

Instant messaging probably sounds very much like email.
The key difference between the two is that instant
messaging makes it possible to see if the other person
is immediately available and if so, it allows communication
to happen in real time instead of having to wait for
email to pass through the servers. It is also less bulky
to have a small icon which notifies the user of new 
messages than to keep an email client open all of the time.

However, one final catch exists. There are three major 
instant messaging networks. MSN Messenger, owned by 
Microsoft, AIM and ICQ, both owned by AOL. Unfortunately, 
each network operates independently of the others so it is 
necessary to decide on one standardized network for everyone 
or be forced to use several of them simultaneously. One
of the conditions of the merger, however, is that
AOL will be forced to open up the AIM network to allow
competitors to offer interoperability which will ease
the burden in deciding which network to use.

MSN Messenger can be found at http://messenger.msn.com
AIM is located at http://www.aol.com/aim/home.html
ICQ can be downloaded from http://web.icq.com

This article is Copyright 2001, Ken Witherow. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, email phantoml@rochester.rr.com