Getting the message

According to the Radicati Group, a market research firm, the number of worldwide instant message (IM) accounts will increase from 944 million in 2006 to over 1.4 billion in 2010. IM's success as a communications tool is clear.

One huge value of IM is the way it allows business users to talk to each other in real time without incurring huge long distance bills. For SMBs, IM lets employees talk to customers and partners almost instantaneously, providing excellent customer service for a very low cost. A small company can communicate like a big company does, anywhere in the world.

ITBusiness - Canada