INSTANT MESSAGING CATCHES ON AT WORK

By: Sid Ross Study: In Some Cases, IM Replaces E-mail


(Adweek IQ) If you need to reach someone at his or her office,
the phone -- we now know -- is not the best way to do it. E-mail
is easier and more popular, as evidenced by the deluge of
messages with which cube dwellers are greeted each morning as
they log onto their computers.

But what do you do if you have only a few quick words to say and
need only a few back in return? You do what a growing number of
office workers are now doing: access your instant messaging
service.

According to Insight Express, a Stamford, Conn.-based online
market research company, 20% of those who use an IM service do so
from the office. But far from i-chatting with pals (AOL, in fact,
has two delineations of IM user: "co-worker" and "buddy"), office
workers are using instant messaging to facilitate the completion
of their workload.

Lee Smith, Insight Express COO, said in the report: "Instant
access helps people do their jobs more efficiently than waiting
for someone to call them back on the phone or find their e-mail
from a week ago."

Overall, almost half of the respondents in the Insight study,
which was conducted in July, said they use instant messaging,
with the overwhelming majority (96%) of them using the service at
home. As for IM services replacing the phone and e-mail, 49% of
all respondents said they use their IM service in place of phone
calls and 35% said they use it instead of sending e-mail.

Of the workers who use IM services at the office, 39% said it
helps improve job productivity. AOL's IM service was used by 45%
of the respondents in the study, followed by MSN at 29% and
Yahoo! at 16%.



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