Instant Messaging Here to Stay

I.M. Generation Is Changing the Way Business Talks

By David Strom
Published: April 5, 2006
www.nytimes.com

INSTANT messaging has come of age. No longer the province of chatty teenagers, it is now part and parcel of advanced communications networks at many corporations. And as instant messaging takes hold, companies are benefiting from new productivity gains and improvements in customer response time.

"I almost never get e-mail from my Sun colleagues," said Tim Bray, an avid instant messager and director of Web technologies for Sun Microsystems. "And I only get voice mails from outsiders."

Sun isn't the only technology company to embrace instant messaging. "We send 2.5 million I.M.'s within I.B.M. each day," says David Marshak, senior product manager for collaboration at I.B.M. "And we have virtually zero voice mails here."

Full Story

It's Not Just for Chatting Anymore

By DAVID STROM
Published: April 5, 2006
www.nytimes.com

INSTANT messaging is no longer limited to one-to-one chats between cubicles. The fact that chat programs show who is online at any moment has given rise to new and sophisticated applications. In some cases, the "chats" link computers without any human involvement.

Full Story