Now this was interesting – and possibly a surprise! According to this article, instant messaging is in slight decline, in favour of email (I thought email had been declared dead some years ago) and social media. Initially, this came as something of a surprise, I think, particularly with all the excitement behind the release of LYNC and its inclusion within the standard Enterprise Agreement entitlement as of August.
Thinking it through, though, they might be on to something. I’ve changed the way I use our IM (we use OCS and integrate it with our Cisco phone system via CUCIMOC). I don’t use it nearly as much as I used to as a communications tool, mainly due to a personal drive to use face-to-face and phone methods of communication more. It feels to me like stuff gets done quicker that way, and communication is of better quality.
What I do use IM for however (and I would really miss this) is the presence aspect. This enables me to see if someone is around (and due to our telephone integration whether they are on the phone), and then pop round to see them. It also enables me to set up a quick informal meeting, usually involving coffee. So IM is more of an enabler for communication rather than a communication vector in and of itself. The main time I really use it for serious messaging is as a ‘backchannel’ during a conference call – which is incredibly useful.
What do you reckon? Have you deployed IM/ presence in your organisation? How do people use it? Would they miss it?
Sam Routledge's Blog 
May 6, 2011 at 9:29 am |
We have OCS deployed in my office, and although we do use it internally we usually prefer the chat or the email approach. The IM side of things does have its place and is useful for things you need a quick response on (I’ve been getting several IM’s to take snapshots of servers etc…) But all in all it is not used as much as I thought.
One of the things I find really useful, like you, is the online presence. We do not have it linked in with our phone system as OCS is part of the BPOS service we have and our phone system is very basic, so we cannot see when people are on the phone. but I find it really handy when I can see if someone is in a meeting or away.
May 6, 2011 at 9:36 am |
Thanks Andrew. Appreciate the comment! Sounds like you use it roughly the same way as me. For all that, I wouldn’t want to be without it!