Compare These Top Vendors for Instant Messaging Solutions

You may think all IM software should be completely banned from your office since it encourages employees to chat with friends instead of doing their work. But , if you're unfamiliar with IM systems, you may not be aware of how your company can benefit from allowing employees to communicate with each other using IM.

Corporate instant messaging can keep employees at their desks and working since they won't actively seek out others to get their questions answered. It can also allow them to quickly, and inexpensively, share ideas with coworkers at different office locations as well as with independent contractors and clients. Three ways to make instant messaging effective for your business are:

1. Choosing the proper instant message solutions for your company;

2. Securing your system so it cannot be accessed by unauthorized users;

3. Implementing a usage policy to deter employees from abusing the instant messaging system.

Research the instant messaging for business options available

There are, of course, the free IM solutions, such as AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, which can provide instant messaging solutions for beginners. However, if you plan to implement instant messaging for the long term, it's best to go with a private service.

Find out about security software to keep your Internet message service private

Once you have your enterprise instant messaging installed, you need to make sure your IMs are safe from prying eyes. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a security package that will work with your instant messaging program.

Write a corporate policy to govern instant messaging software use

Unfortunately, even if employees can only chat with each other, there is opportunity for abuse of your Internet message service. A policy that requires it to be for business talk only can help your employees stay on task instead of chatting about last night's football game.