Corporate Advantages of Using Instant Messaging Software

In today's technical arena it is important that companies find better ways of communication, both to its clients and to its employees. Gone are the days when we used phones for everything. Now most companies have computers at every desk, and upon orientation every new employee gets an email address, something like firstname.lastname@company.com. Email is primarily used in a corporation to setup meetings, organize calendars, set-up to-do lists, and at times send out correspondence throughout the company... but what do we do if we need a faster form of communication?

Everyone knows that landlines are a thing of the past. Our society calls us on our smartphones and lets us know this at every turn. If you can find a pay phone within a mile of wherever you're reading this article from, you are a fortunate individual because most of them went out when cell phones started getting more and more popular in the last few years. Did you know that most people would rather just have a cell phone than to invest in a landline? The idea of portability is appealing to us as a people. It's that concept of portability and convenience that brought about instant messaging.

There are a few companies that have instant messaging software. The most notable are Yahoo, Google, MSN, and ICQ. There are some companies who took it a step further and made software where you can combine all of your accounts and place them into one service. So if you have friends on Yahoo Instant Messenger, and others on MSN Messenger and yet others on GoogleTalk, you can reach them all by opening up one program instead of three. It saves on computer memory and places everything right at your fingertips. So why is this advantageous for today's company?

Today's company needs faster ways to communicate messages to its employees, but even more than the head honchos talking to employees, employees need faster ways to talk to employees and to direct supervisors. Sure, the walk from desk to desk may take but a few seconds, but I can't transfer a file to your desk by walking it over to you. Instant messaging allows for more than just the quick chat every once in a while, but it also provides record keeping of messages... as well as file transfer between the parties that are communicating. In a world where information is king, the ability to have these features available to everyone in your company may mean the difference between being good and being efficient.

Would companies save a lot on intrapersonal calls because of instant messaging? I doubt it. You still need an outlet to call outside clients. Most companies don't need to go as far as giving companies your IM address in order to make contact with you. Instant messaging is of most benefit for efficiency purposes. In the technology industry this is especially the case. Those of us that are in front of a computer almost 8 hours a day anyway, it's a way we can keep in touch with each other and exchange links or information especially when under tight deadlines. In times like that picking up a phone would break the flow of what we're doing and sometimes momentum is the hope we hang on to.

Instant messaging is also a great way of communicating in meetings when you want to talk to one of your team members in a room without being loud and/or verbal. I've seen it used successfully in meetings when perhaps one is presenting and others are comparing notes. I've seen it used when a senior member was in a meeting and perhaps a more intermediate or junior level member needed to do some fixes based on things discussed in a meeting. Those other members won't have to wait until the meeting is over and have an internal meeting to discuss things... all of that can be done through instant messaging. It saves time, it saves energy, it is FREE for everyone, and it allows you documentation of your conversations. I highly recommend it if it makes sense for your company.