travel – Hosted IM Spot

For many businessmen and women, it can be hard to break away from their work and/or home computers while they are traveling, either for work or for personal reasons. However, it is possible to still use IM, even though you are not at your current computer.

Some hosted instant messaging programs allow you to take your IM program any where you want on a jump/flash drive, sometimes called a USB drive. The program is downloaded onto this mobile storage drive as a .ZIP file, and can be used on any computer. This is a great idea when you will have a computer available to you (such as in the hotel lobby or a relative’s computer), but want to use your same instant messaging program.

Another great method of using an instant messenger program while you are on the go is through your cell phone. I know there are some drawbacks — taking longer to type, battery life, etc., but if the person you are trying to reach is only available through IM, then it may be your best bet. My new Palm Pre had AIM and GoogleTalk already integrated into the phone, and I know that other phones have the ability to connect to AIM as well.

Good Luck!

As the sky is gray and the clouds are filled with rain just outside my window today, it made me think about how I would hate to travel to a meeting in the pouring rain. This made me think about how businesses can use an enterprise IM client to dramatically cut down travel costs. Sure, once in a while, I think that it’s fun to take that 3-day trip to Chicago for a meeting, but that does take time away from friends, family, and pets. Besides the obvious cost, traveling can also be exhausting at times, because there are meetings to attend and flights to catch.

However, if you conduct your meetings using enterprise instant messaging, then you save the cost, time, and travel of going to meetings in other cities. Whereas a trip for one person to Chicago for 3 days would probably run a company at least $1000-1500, using an enterprise IM client is free, if you don’t take into consideration the subscription cost, which you are paying for anyway. Using voice chat, video chat, or group IM conversations, meetings can now be done electronically through the internet. This is the most efficient method of conducting meetings between people who are not in the same office or location.