1 post tagged “presence awareness”

One of the big issues of the day is whether to officially use IM at our agency or not.  We currently allow IM to be used by anyone who wants to on an ad hoc basis.  We also, certainly, require its use if there is a client need/demand.  The thing is...there has never been a client need/demand for IM.  Clients want to use email. They know how to use it, are comfortable with it, and like the record keeping it provides.

I have used IM with my friends to varying degrees of success, but I tend to end up keeping my away message on so I can concentrate on work. Wouldn't everyone???? ;-)

Actually, it's the away message and the "presence awareness" it provides that has generated the best argument, in my mind, for IM at our office. To tell the truth, I wasn't even thinking about the business impact of the away message until a co-worker brought it up.  It's a much better "out-board" than an actual  out-board - but shouldn't we just be using an out-board applet then (something on our intranet...)? 

Maybe mobile use is a reason to encourage IM? My coworkers could then IM from meetings without generating a bunch of back-and-forth emails. But, do I want them IM'ing from meetings? And if it's important enough to send an IM, isn't it important enough to save???? (Maybe I'm just a total geezer!).

I think a small study here at the agency is in order. Stay tuned...