Re: How important is IM? was RE: How important is the PSTN

[Scott Call <scall () devolution com>]

> my question for the group is, do chat programs (IM, IRC, yahoo) serve a
> substantial network support purpose or are they more of a distraction,
> allowing staff to communicate with friends, relatives, drifters, interlopers
> on company time?
>  

We run an internal Jabber server which all employees log into.  This 
eliminates the reliance on an outside server (AOL/Yahoo/etc) as well as 
the security concerns of same outside servers.

Of course it's still cleartext over TCP, so it's not 100% secure but 
it's localized traffic.

We find it invaluable especially since our department has become 
geographically diverse. To be able to pop "Can you look at TT#XYZ?" vs 
an email or phone call is quite nice.

-Scott

>  
--
Scott Call      Router Geek, ATGi, home of $6.95 Prime Rib
"...Everything's going to be just great again!"