INTERNET | Online chatting has a bad reputation. If your not using it in the work environment because of that you might be losing out on a great communication tool, Ahmad Humeid writes

Ask any teenager who uses the internet about their favourite online activities and the word ‘chatting’ will be on the top of the list. The idea of logging onto the net with an Instant Messenger (IM) and finding ‘the gang’ logged on too is quite appealing to the communication-crazed generation. Chatting up a total stranger and engaging in a bit online flirting is another magnet that pulls in users who want to have some fun online.

From what I’ve seen, It’s probably this reputation of instant messaging as a fun way to waste time that’s preventing many businesses to consider the more serious usages of IM. Some companies have even installed regulations and software blocks to stop their employees from using IM altogether.

Let me first concede that totally uncontrolled chatting can turn into a waste of time at the work place. But if office workers have so little to do or are such time wasters that they actually start chatting on IM (or on the phone for that matter) for hours on end, then the problem at that company is bigger than to be solved with a ban on this online activity or that.

IM can be a great business tool that bring with it great advantages and can save some companies tons of money. Companies with clients outside Jordan, can use IM and discover that they can drastically reduce their international phone bill. I’ve witnessed a number of Jordanian companies, especially in the field of software development who use IM to communicate effectively with their European and US clients.

If you are someone who sets up conference calls, especially across borders, you probably know what a pain they can be. High costs, lack of sound clarity and phone set up can be a real hassle. IM chat rooms are a free and effective platform for conferencing, whether the participants are in the same office or a hemisphere apart.

The beauty of IM also lays in the possibility of saving the conversation as a text file, essentially creating an instant minutes of meeting document for future follow-up and reference.

And when was the last time you where able to throw a document, picture or spreadsheet your interlocutor’s way while speaking with her on the phone? When you’re in an IM chat, you can send over any file you want, enabling both you and your conversation partner to ‘stay on the same page’, literally.

Even for people sitting in the same office, IM can be a great communication tool, especially in open space offices where the cacophony of ringing phones and people’s chatter can make life difficult for co-workers.

Now before anyone accuses me of wanting to kill the ‘human aspect’ of inter-office communication, I say:”Save it for the water cooler chat’, and start using IM for business.