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Network Chat as a Tool for Corporate Communications?

Posted by Cliff on from the corporate-AIM-anyone dept.

rimmon asks: "I'd like to know what experience have you made with [network-enabled chatting programs] as tools to communicate with your boss, with your employees or your customers? Does your company utilize [Instant Messenger or IRC] as a communication tool (to communicate with customers, between employees and Pointy Haired Bosses? If you use or provide [chatting systems]: Is this technology an effective tool to communicate? What are the Pros and Cons? What type of chat technology do you use and what flavor of chat (open, moderated, etc.) works best for you?"

3 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. We do... by MattCohn.com · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it's called E-Mail. All information is kept track of by a central server, all the important stuff is saved, it can be orginized into folders, works easilly across the network, and people are notified almost instantly (via. outlook) when they have a new message.

    E-Mail is the answer here.

  2. Re:Fuckers! by adamy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ah, but the telephone is indeed a weapon of mass distraction.

    Sorry I couldn't resist that.

    I mean, come on. What ever you are doing...it just breaks your concentration and even if you don't have to asnswer it, the zone is gone. So the only real answer is to not answer, and that is no answer. I swear.

    Either email me, or come over to talk to me. If it is not super time senstive, I will get it in email. If it is super time sensative, commit as much time to it as you ask me to by walking over to my desk.

    --
    Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
  3. Very useful by cyberjam · · Score: 2, Insightful
    It doesn't replace phone, email, face-to-face or NNTP, it's just another tool that's good for what it's good for.

    We're mainly using MSN and Exchange IM: main benefits are presence info - although it's not 100% accurate, it's really useful to know if somebody's likely to be at their desk.

    Biggest plus for IM itself seems to be the ability to establish a new channel of communication while on the phone e.g. during a boring conference call (lots of those!) or while on the phone to a customer, without having to put them on hold. Also e.g. for PAs using IM to pass short messages to their boss while the boss is on the phone.

    Less importantly are the ability to share small bits of text very quickly (e.g. it's quicker to pass a long URL to a colleague at the next desk via IM than via email), and the ability to launch voice chat and desktop sharing quickly and simply - the MSN IM implementation is far more immediate and accessible for users than NetMeeting.

    Downside, if you think of it as being a downside, particulary using a public service such as MSN is the amount of private trivia conversations ("have you had your lunch yet, honey?").