AOL estimates that the number of instant messengers currently stands at about 37 million people. IBM employees use it heavily, for example. Instant messaging has the potential for significantly reducing traditional e-mail traffic and the volume of information associated with it.
Instant messaging eliminates the first two, significantly reducing message storage requirements.
Instant messaging has the potential for reinventing technical support, an area we've always found to have low ratings in customer satisfaction surveys. Despite all of this, there is a move by firewall administrators in some large organizations to block access to public instant messaging systems like ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger. Some organizations are looking toward secure instant messaging solutions in order to safeguard their corporate networks. We will publish the results in an upcoming column. Related links Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research , a market research firm that helps organizations understand the markets for messaging, directory and related products and services.