Five years ago, when my oldest child left home for college, I was introduced to the joys of instant messaging. Because I was frequently traveling on business, instant messaging was an easy way for my daughter to check with me and see if I was free to talk or could set a time to chat later. I traveled with my notebook computer, so she could frequently reach me online, although that wasn’t the case when I was in transit. About the same time, I noticed that my colleagues at 3Com (News - Alert) Corporation (before I moved to FirstHand Technologies) were using instant messaging in the same way. We’d coordinate meetings, get quick answers and figure out when others were free to talk.

 

The biggest problem with instant messaging was that if you weren’t online with your computer, you didn’t have instant communication. I might be walking through an office hall, pulling into my driveway or waiting to board a plane and I might as well have been on a desert island as far as instant messaging was concerned.

 

Over the next few years, many smart phones gained the ability to perform instant messaging, but typically this feature was incompatible with other phone features, like conferencing or directory services, or even with the instant message feature on the PC. Some of my colleagues embraced the new mobile instant messaging, but I found it cumbersome to use and unhelpful because of the lack of integration with phone message flows and buddy lists on my PC. Beyond this, I found that some messages either were delivered late or not at all.

 

The good news is that technology has advanced and mobile instant messaging is finally ready for prime time in the enterprise. Recent instant messaging advancements on smart phones have included full integration with PC buddy lists, histories and message flows. We’ve also seen the full integration with other facets of smart phones, including voice operations and enterprise presence capabilities. As a result, the difference between “then’ and “now” is truly remarkable.

 

For example, when I look at my smart phone now, I see the same buddy list and presence that I have on my notebook computer, so I know when my contacts are and aren’t on calls. And when I instant message them, I know with certainty that my message will be delivered. Equally impressive, when they ask me if we can chat, I need only click on the person in my instant message window and my call goes through, based upon the corporate directory and my personal buddy list.

 

As a result, no matter where I am, I can now provide the same level of connectivity to my colleagues and — productivity to myself — as when I’m sitting at my desk. I thought about this the other day when I was on the phone during a business trip. A colleague shot me an instant message wanting to know when I’d be available for an important conference call. In the past, we might have sent a few e-mails back and forth, describing the nature of the call, some background information, noting other parties that were involved and then schedule the phone call. By the time we would have sorted things out, it might have been hours later or even the next day before we actually spoke. Instead, after getting the gist of the call’s topic through a couple of instant messages, I used a hot key that was pre-programmed with phrases to let him know that I’d be available in 30 minutes for the call. When the time came, I clicked on my conferencing key and appropriate buddy list members to initiate the conference call. Mission accomplished in minutes.

 

That simple example illustrates both the boon to my entire team’s productivity and my increased accessibility to my colleagues when I’m on the road. And since I travel about 60 percent of the time, these are truly significant benefits.

 

The milestones we’ve surpassed in mobile communications are impressive. First, we were given access to electronic calendars and contact lists. Then we got email. Now, our smart phones have advanced voice features and integrated instant messaging. It’s certain that more impressive capabilities will follow, but it surely seems as though we’ve reached the tipping point at which enterprise communications everywhere is becoming a reality.