While attending a virtualization panel discussion three years ago, a question was asked of the panel: “with email on its way out, how are you preparing for the shift in the way we work?” The Panel was taken back by the question and their responses to the interesting question were vague. Three years later and still using email, the question of when email is going to drop down the list of business’s preferred way of communicating is back. However, with the rise of Instant Messaging in the workplace, this time the question is more realistic
lol, ttyl, rofl
Instant Messaging (IM), dates back to the mid 1960s. Today it is moving out from behind the stigma of TTYLs and ROFLs of teens and making its way into the business setting. IM is an efficient way of real-time communication that can enable more than just messaging. Today’s communication clients enable file sharing, video, and presence over the Internet. IM provides faster, cost effective and more efficient communication; but can it survive in the corporate world? With the growing irritation of spam mail and the need for more bandwidth and storage, IM clients are looking more appealing than ever before to the business world.
IM isn’t a new communication tool for businesses. Real-time chatting has been making its way into the 9 to 5 for sometime, although it hasn’t always been seen in the best light. To some IM is seen as unproductive and risky. With the advent of corporate-grade IM clients like Cisco Systems’ Jabber, risks can be mitigated, security can be addressed, and user controls can be put in place.
Why IM?
Real time interaction. The presence capabilities allow users to see who is available at any given time once the user is logged on. For example, if a bank only has six loan officers available for fielding calls, a telephone operator can look at their “presence”, see who is free and connect the customer immediately. No more unbearable hold times or leaving voicemails – only a helped customer.
Save time and effort. IM helps internal users’ productivity by reducing the time and effort required to complete tasks and get answers. IM eliminates the lag time in email and phone call response time. When used properly, if a user is available you type a quick message, hit send and a few seconds later you are in touch with the messages’ recipient.
Hear it from an expert.
We caught up with Jason Shearer, Cisco Collaboration expert to weigh in on IM.
Q: How do you know if your business will benefit from an IM client?
Jason: Enterprise IM is more than just having a buddy list. It is all about identifying the best way to communicate with your co-workers and business partners through the power of presence. When we integrate an IM client into business phone communication systems it becomes the jumping off point for all of your communication tools…voice, video, IM, presence, voicemail and conferencing in one application.
Q: What are the top three things to consider when choosing an IM client?
Jason: When you are evaluating an IM client it is important to look at how it will be integrated into your business. More and more companies are moving towards a mobile workforce and IM/Presence functionality is a perfect compliment to the nomadic worker. Another important factor is the variety of devices a platform supports. Employees today want to user devices they are comfortable with rather than something mandated by corporate without sacrificing features. A final aspect to consider is intercompany communication. As the world gets smaller our workforce expects to be able to communicate outside their company walls with customers, partners and suppliers. It is critical that a IM/Presence platform supports this while still maintaining enterprise features like branding and control of compliance.
Q: What is your favorite IM feature?
Jason: My favorite feature is mobility. No matter where I am I know I’ll be able to communicate with my partners and co-workers over IM, voice and video. Any device, anywhere, anytime.
So, is email really headed out? The quick answer is no. However, the way the business world communicates is changing at a more rapid rate than ever before. The want to have a real-time channel is driven by our need to get answers five seconds ago, and IM clients like Jabber are providing these outlets.
Does your company have any corporate IM solution in place?
