Is AOL Instant Messaging Good for Business Use?
On Wednesday, AOL announced a new version of AIM, an instant-messaging client for hyper-connected netizens.
AIM 6 offers several features that bring it in line with competing products from Yahoo and Microsoft. Some of the new features include chat logging, where users can keep a record of their IM conversations, as well as an offline messaging feature that enables users to receive messages when they’re not online, then pick up those messages when they log on.
AIM 6 also offers a Buddy List that can store up to 1,000 contacts and a new Mobile Dashboard that lets users forward their instant-message traffic to their cell phones — a sign (or symptom) of today’s hyper-connected age.
Business Messaging
But many of AIM’s new features — such as tighter integration with social-networking sites — won’t do much for business users, whose needs for IM are both simpler and more stringent at the same time.
IM’s speed and ease of use have made it a favorite with deskbound knowledge workers who use it to share thoughts, Word docs, and spreadsheets as a quick-and-dirty form of inter- or intra-office collaboration. Some even prefer it to e-mail in that regard.
But as with all business software, compliance and security issues make corporate IM a more demanding app than its consumer counterpart.
The HR Equation
According to Natalie Lambert, a security expert with Forrester Research, CIOs have no shortage of reasons for securing IM with all the care they use for e-mail and network access.
“One reason is HR,” said Lambert, “making sure that people aren’t harassing each other, or being able to filter out bad words.”
Lambert also noted that IM can open a door for malware to enter the enterprise. “The malicious code aspect of IM is the ability to get pop-ups from what’s seemingly a friend,” said Lambert. “The pop-up has…
