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Viewing Instant Messaging on the Rise: Is the Age of Email Over?Instant Messaging on the Rise: Is the Age of Email Over?
By Adam Singleton
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Email is no longer the new kid on the block when it comes to office communications; instant messaging is rapidly growing in popularity within clued-up companies who need cheap, quick, office correspondence. You have a quick query for a colleague, but he works on the fourth floor and you are on the first. He also happens to be in the Geneva office, but you are in London. With the global workplace more widespread and busier than ever, communicating with colleagues can be difficult. However, the age of the Internet has brought with it new forms of correspondence. Email is one of the most widely used ways of connecting workers to each other and there are few, if any, companies in the western world that do not make use of it. Email has done much for the working world; it has saved us millions of tons of paper, made communication quicker than ever before, and stripped some of the formality associated with the traditional print letter - creating a more relaxed channel of communication. Where else could you get away with inserting a smiley face into correspondence with a member of senior management? However, like life itself, the Internet has evolved, and email is no longer the new kid on the block when it comes to online office communications; instant messaging (IM) is rapidly growing in popularity with clued-up companies as a way to communicate with colleagues. Though long popular with teenage web surfers, instant message packages are now being utilized by big businesses in a bid to facilitate communication and reduce costs at the same time. There are several advantages of instant messaging over email or phone. As the name suggests, messages are delivered right away, so there is no time lag as with email, meaning that a real time conversation is possible. It is also easy to include several people in a conversation - ideal if you are not sitting right next to your colleagues, yet are too busy to go and round everyone up for meeting. Another big advantage of instant messaging for business over email is the lack of spam. Junk mail has become commonplace and accepted as one of the disadvantages of email. Instant messaging on the other hand is yet to be tainted by spammers, so sifting through messages, removing sales pitches for Viagra, is not currently a problem. Instant messaging is also a little less intrusive than a phone call, and even if you are not at your desk when a new message pops up on your screen, you can still reply when you return. Those who excel at multi-tasking can even make a phone call and write an instant message at the same time! Instant messaging is not just useful for conversation; large files can be instantly transferred with the click of a mouse, and you can communicate with colleagues in other cities and even countries - free. There are a number of instant message packages available for businesses, and more and more companies are seeing the cost and time savings that IM provides, with many incorporating instant messaging into their IT infrastructure. After all, email is so 1990s anyway! About the Author: Paul McIndoe is an online, freelance journalist and keen hill walker. He lives in Edinburgh with his two dogs. Article Source: 1st Rate Articles - http://1stRateArticles.com |
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