Business Technology Tips

Top 5 Tips for Using Instant Messaging in the Workplace

Whether you're a business owner or an avid IM user, or both, here are 5 instant messaging do's and don'ts. instant messenger

1. Do: Be aware that instant messages can be saved. You may think IM is great because you can let your guard down, make bold statements, chastise a boss, employee or co-worker, and have it all wiped away from the record when you are done. What you aren't realizing is that one of the parties to your conversation can copy and paste the entire chat onto a notepad or Word document. Some IM services allow you to archive entire messages. Bottom line: Be careful what you say, just like you would in an e-mail.

2. Don't: Share personal data or information through instant messaging. Even if you have the utmost trust in the person or people you are messaging, including personal information such as a password or credit card number. That's because the text of your chat is relayed to a Web server en route to your contact. "If anyone [such as an IM provider employee, or even a hacker] is on the connection and can see that traffic, they can see the personal information," says Chris Mitchell, lead program manager with MSN Messenger. Not likely, perhaps. But better to send such info through an encrypted e-mail, or not at all, he says.

3. Do: Adopt a user policy for instant messaging. If you're an owner, your employees need to know whether you view instant messaging as an appropriate vehicle to communicate with, say, customers or business partners. Any policy should contain at least general guidelines for its use.
4. Do: Organize your contact lists to separate business contacts from family and friends. Contact lists, also known as "buddy lists," contain your menu of potential recipients for instant messages. Keep your business contacts separate from family and friends. Make sure your employees do the same. Eliminate even the remote possibility that a social contact could be included in a business chat with a partner or customer - or vice versa.

5. Do: Be aware of virus infections and related security risks. Most IM services allow you to transfer files with your messages. Alexis D. Gutzman, an author and e-business consultant, says her recent research for a book found that IM file attachments carrying viruses penetrate firewalls more easily than e-mail attachments. "Instant messages [carrying viruses] will run and dip into a firewall until they find an opening," she says. If you collaborate on documents for your business, file transfer is important. You'd be wise to learn more about the quality of your own firewall protection, to decide whether or not to restrict transferring files through IM.

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