Keeping an eye on IM

Instant messaging is poised to hit big once communications managers grasp its potential business value.

What’s the fastest-growing communications medium in the world today? E-mail? Voice-over-IP?

Actually, in my estimation, it’s instant messaging. IM has gone from virtual nonexistence just a few short years ago to an installed base of something on the order of 100 million users. It’s hugely popular with the more avid segments of the Net’s consumer market. My kids, for example, hardly ever send e-mails anymore. Instead—after they do their homework—they log on and engage their buddies in IM chat-fests.

However, few corporate communications managers really understand or appreciate IM’s business potential. So, for their benefit, I’d like to get everyone up to speed on what IM is and how it can potentially be of enormous business value.

For those who don’t know, instant messaging is real-time, one-to-one communications over the Net. The most popular versions are AOL’s Instant Messenger and ICQ. Other portals, such as MSN and Yahoo, also provide IM software. Unlike e-mail, IM messages are received instantly if the party at the other end is currently on line. Users can exchange messages, open up “chat”-style windows and even transfer files to each other—all in real time.

IM does this through the use of directory servers that can detect user “presence.” IM users typically maintain a “buddy” list of other users with whom they frequently communicate. Through the directory, these users can see whether their “buddies” are on line or not. So, unlike the phone or fax, you never get a busy signal. If your buddy is on line, they get your message right away.

Why is this so cool?

Not many corporate communications managers get excited about the software that teenage girls now use to gossip with each other about the boys in their class. But, if you think a little more deeply about what IM is, you might get more interested in it.

For example, say you’re in the financial services business and you’re trying to differentiate yourself from all the other Web trading sites. What if you offered your customers a service that instantly notified them whenever the value of any of their stocks fluctuated by more than 4%? What if they could instantly and easily respond with a buy or a sell order? That might be fairly compelling, wouldn’t it?

Or what if you’re running an agribusiness or industrial materials exchange and you could offer customers a service by which they’re instantly informed when a given commodity or chemical becomes available at a specified price? Think you might drum up some interest?

The fact is that the prices and availability of securities, commodities, plane tickets, and goods-at-auction are highly volatile. E-mail just doesn’t cut it for these environments. Developing agents to constantly check the content of dozens or hundreds of Web pages isn’t very practical. IM notifications and interactions are potentially a more effective solution.

IM a-comin’

Of course, there are some obstacles to realizing the potential value of IM in a business context. The main one is that the IM user base is totally fragmented today. AOL users are on a totally different directory and use completely different client software from Yahoo users. This presents corporate communications managers with a dilemma. Should they try to support all the popular IM networks? Should they encourage their users to subscribe to one particular network as a condition of service? Should they build their own IM platforms?

There’s something else to consider in examining the business possibilities that IM presents. Right now, IM is mainly about typed text. If you think about the combination of directory services and real-time packet delivery, you might be able to make the logical leap to voice. Thus, what now looks like a consumer toy for text messaging may evolve into a corporate tool for real-time multimedia communications—including voice, data, and text.

If you’re still skeptical about the future of IM, think about this: Why did AOL battle Microsoft so ferociously to keep Redmond’s IM clients off its own IM network? Could it be that both companies recognize that IM is one of the only applications over which an ISP or portal has any control? After all, AOL customers and AT&T customers get to surf the same Web pages and exchange e-mails with the same universe of mailboxes. But, because of the directory services required, ISPs and portal providers can exercise great deal of control over their IM traffic.

It will be very interesting to see how the IM turf wars pan out as creative Net developers try to leverage IM in order to create innovative e-business services. Regardless of exactly how IM platforms evolve over the next few quarters, it’s pretty evident that some people are going to come out of the first wave of IM implementations looking pretty smart. Wouldn’t it be nice to be one of them?