TURBOCHARGED E-MAIL BRINGS POTENTIALLY COSTLY RISK TO THE WORKPLACE

NEW YORK -- Instant Messaging, or IM, was born in the nether world of chat rooms and message boards. Now, IM has become the communications tool of choice in many workplaces, from Wall Street to Main Street. Employees, supervisors and even executives love the casual, rapid-fire back-and-forth that IM is famous for. It‘s estimated, in fact, that nearly half of America‘s workplaces have approved IM for business use.

Author Nancy Flynn knows all about how IM can help -- and hurt -- companies. Her new book, INSTANT MESSAGING RULES: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication (AMACOM Books; paperback), sizes up IM and provides tons of advice for companies that want to make the most of IM technology while cutting the risks it presents.

Why Establish Instant Messaging(IM) Rules and Policies?* Thanks to IM, employers (many of whom remain challenged by e-mail rules and risks) now face even greater electronic communications‘ problems. IM brings to the workplace new legal and regulatory issues, and challenges management to reevaluate security, technology, and employee productivity.

INSTANT MESSAGING RULES offers 32 IM best practices designed to help employers keep their organizations out of harm‘s way, while giving employees access to a cutting-edge, productivity-enhancing tool.

IM Rule #1: Instant Messaging Is a Form of E-Mail—Written Correspondence That Creates a Written Record.  Instant messaging is a form of turbocharged e-mail. It combines the real-time convenience and conferencing capabilities of the telephone with all the features of e-mail -- and then some. As a form of e-mail, IM creates a written business record that can be subpoenaed and used as evidence in litigation or regulatory investigations.

Adherence to a strategic IM management program, complete with written rules and policies, is a legal and business necessity for any organization that allows employees to use IM.

IM Rule #2: Take Control of Instant Messaging Risks Today, or Face Potentially Costly Consequences Tomorrow.  Employers who mistakenly view IM as an “emerging” technology can no longer afford to remain in the dark about employees’ IM use. Instant messaging is here, and here to stay. By 2006, e-mail usage will have declined by 40 percent, thanks to increased IM use.

Employers who fail to manage IM today will tomorrow face legal and regulatory challenges and will have to make decisions that impact employee productivity and company security -- that is, potentially expensive decisions.

IM Rule #3: Assume That Your Employees Are Already Using Instant Messaging—Without Your Knowledge, Authorization, Rules or Policies.  Industry insiders estimate that up to 90 percent of businesses are already engaged in some form of IM. That includes the 25 million employees who are using personal IM tools to communicate via public networks -- without management‘s knowledge, IT‘s approval, or written rules or policies in place to reduce liabilities.

IM Rule #4: Originally Intended for Home Use, Instant Messaging Poses Significant Risk to Business Users.  Nationwide, renegade employees have downloaded free personal IM software, or “clients,” from AOL, Yahoo! and MSN directly onto their business computers, laptops and handhelds. Without technology in place to prevent security breaches, protect confidential data, battle viruses and “spim,” monitor and block content, purge unnecessary messages, and retain and archive business records, consumer-grade IM tools put an organization at tremendous risk.

IM Rule #5: Apply Instant Messaging Policy, Training and Technology Solutions to User ID and Domain Name Challenges. The misuse of user IDs and the misappropriation of corporate domain names are among the greatest challenges facing the IM industry and users. While technology-based solutions continue to evolve, employers are advised to use policy, education and software to give their IT department some control over user IDs and passwords, including the ability to reserve their own domain name and kick imposters off their system.

IM Rule #6: Unauthorized, Unrestricted Instant Messaging Use Is Simply Bad Practice. It‘s not uncommon for employees to use IM without the knowledge of management. Responsible employers have an obligation to discover whether or not employees are using IM, under what circumstances they are using it, with whom they are chatting and what type of content they are sending and receiving. The risks inherent in unmanaged IM use are too great to ignore.

IM Rule #7: Act Now to Uncover Unauthorized Instant Messaging Use. To help get a grip on unauthorized IM use, test your network for the presence of consumer-grade IM clients. Also consider conducting an internal survey to determine the level and type of IM communications your employees are engaged in. Your survey findings will help you draft IM policies and develop employee training programs that truly meet the needs of your organization.

IM Rule #8: Ignoring Instant Messaging May Cost You More than Using It. In spite of the risks, IM delivers productivity-enhancing features and capabilities that cannot be denied. Use screening technology and your internal IM survey to uncover pockets of nonuse as well as unauthorized use. Educate targeted nonusers about the ways in which IM can help enhance productivity, ease communications and better meet client needs.

IM Rule #9: Don’t Rush to Ban Instant Messaging. Although banning workplace IM might appear to be a simple and effective solution to IM risk, it might not be so easy to enforce. Employees want IM, and they have demonstrated their willingness to bring it in through the back door, without management’s knowledge or IT‘s approval. Try banning IM completely, and you may trigger a revolt among employees and clients who view it as an effective and acceptable means of high-speed communication.

IM Rule #10: Don’t Rush to Standardize Instant Messaging. Enterprise IM offers undeniable benefits including antivirus and encryption tools, as well as the ability to control user IDs, monitor content and save and store messages. On the downside, enterprise systems limit users to internal chat with other people on the same system. Expect some defiant employees to disregard policy and attempt to download personal IM clients for external use -- even after your enterprise-grade system is installed.

As IM gains popularity, organizations need to address the potentially costly challenges it brings to the workplace. INSTANT MESSAGING RULES is an essential, timely guide that will help keep their companies out of harm‘s way. For ordering information, log on to www.amanet.org/books/.

*Adapted from INSTANT MESSAGING RULES: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication by Nancy Flynn (AMACOM).