Instant Messaging Is Not Just For Teens Anymore (NAPSA)—A growing number of small businesses are getting the “msg” about instant messaging. A leading industry consultant predicts that by 2005 instant messaging (IM) will be used more than e-mail. IM systems built specifically for businesses are now in use in organizations of all sizes because of the benefits they produce, including more productive employees and decreased operating costs resulting from fewer phone calls and a reduced need to travel. Unlike the telephone or e-mail, IM has the ability to keep employees, business partners, customers and suppliers connected at all times. The capacity to see who is online at any time—what’s known as IM’s presence awareness technology—allows individuals to see who is available for quick responses to questions, even across time zones. This embrace of IM by the business market—a trend somerefer to as “chat hits the cubicle’—is particularly noticeable among companies dealing with a geographically dispersed workforce. For example, software developed by IBM, Lotus Sametime3, provides customers with a mixture of secure instant messaging and Web conferencing. The software helps companies extend real-time collaboration services to those outside of their firewalls without compromising security. Sametime 3 also enables EI Beopls Meeting Options Help {BIx Sametime =|5)% Meeting Edt Help [Stephen Lender... HelloJerem-I've ast a quick question on the sales worksheet Lpe your tet [Do you know when the G2 AOIwill et posted? ‘Send Apivite Others... I Close au A leading industry consultant predicts that by 2005 instant messaging (IM) will be used more than e-mail. easily incorporate presence aware- ness into other business applications, such as a customer service Website or a company Intranet. Beckman & Hirsch, an Iowabased law firm, has used the soft- ware to share files instantly with clients, hold e-meetings and use instant messaging as an alterna- tive to the office intercom. David Beckman said, “Lotus instant messaging communities with other organizations communi- Sametime took off here like wildfire. It really has the security and the power to support the work we do and has indeed lead to increased productivity.” The manufacturer, IBM, believes the software reflects the brand’s unique representation of the new waysindividuals and businesses work together to achieve success. The system was designed to be used with a Pentium II 266 MHz—orhigher—and any number of Windowsoperating systems. It also offers the ability to more site at www.lotus.com. users to securely connect their ties, such as customersor partners. To learn more, visit the Web
