Should Your Business Use Instant Messaging?

The Downsides

Security risks. Along with everyone else, IM is growing in popularity with hackers and criminals, too. The number of IM attacks, including viruses, worms and phishing scams, has risen from 20 in 2004 to 571 in the second quarter of 2005 alone, according to a study by the IMlogic Threat Center. As with many email viruses, worms and spyware, IM attacks can steal confidential information from your computer, turn your PC into a spam zombie, and more.

Legal risks. As with any business communications tool, you or an employee may inadvertently write something that can cause or complicate legal issues later. For example, two employees swapping crude jokes via IM could subject your business to a sexual harassment suit from an offended employee. Email and IM are often admitted as evidence in legal proceedings, too. And yet, most companies -- even those in regulated industries -- don't properly retain and archive their employee's instant messages, according to the 2004 Workplace Email and Instant Messaging Survey.

Decreased productivity. When used improperly, IM can be an ongoing distraction for employees. In fact, 58% of IM users engage in personal chat at work, according to the Workplace Email and Instant Messaging Survey.

Limited interoperability between IM systems. Most IM systems still don't enable users to swap messages with anyone outside the system. As a result, many IM users sign up for multiple services.

The Options

After weighing the pros and cons, you may want to give IM a try. Among the IM services small businesses might consider are:

JabberNow is an IM client for small businesses based on the open-source, extensible, XML-based Jabber platform. JabberNow promises easy installation, minimal hardware requirements, and superior interoperability with other open-source products. Some enterprises use the Jabber platform for their internal IM services, which means you can more easily IM with your corporate clients, large suppliers, and others.

AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM) is the most popular consumer IM service, with over 244 million users.

Other popular consumer services are MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Google Talk, launched in August, is based on an open protocol, with the goal of promoting interoperability among IM services.

Is IM Right for You?

Used properly, IM can be an extremely useful addition to your company's communications tools. IM reduces time and effort and helps your business react quickly to new challenges, competition and customer requests.

Before signing up for an IM service, however, ensure that you've got the necessary network and computer security in place. At a minimum, your network should have end-to-end security, firewall protection and encryption for all IM communications. You might also consider a virtual private network, or VPN, which provides additional network security protection for mobile and remote employees, For more about basic network security, see "Is Your Biz Safe From Internet Security Threats?."

Also, compile a list of IM do's and don'ts for employees to follow. Keep an archive of IM messages, for legal reasons, and back it up regularly. Check back next month, when this column will help you develop a best practices plan for using IM in your business.