The results of a recently published study of workers’ instant messaging (IM) use shows that IM can actually improve workplace productivity. This contradicts a widely held belief that IM in the workplace is a hindrance to productivity. IM is often perceived as an interruption, and as such, “it can significantly hinder productivity by disrupting thought processes and work flows, causing individuals to take longer to complete tasks.”

Researchers at Ohio State University and the University of California, Irvine conducted a telephone study by randomly surveying individuals employed full-time who use computers in an office environment at least five hours per week. They netted 912 respondents, of which 29.8 percent claimed to use IM in the workplace “to keep connected with coworkers and clients.” Interestingly, the demographics of the IM users were essentially identical to that of the non-IM users in the study, with a mean age of 43.7 years old and 53.2 percent female. Neither occupation, education, gender, nor age seem to have an impact on whether an individual is an IM user or not. This should throw out a few more generally accepted beliefs that IM users are predominately tech-savvy young men.

The study theorizes that using IM enables individuals to “flag their availability.” Doing so can limit when IM interruptions occur. Even if an IM interruption comes when it is not necessarily convenient to the recipient, it is “often socially acceptable” to ignore an incoming message or respond with a terse reply stating that the recipient is too busy at the moment to properly respond. Also, new “patterns of communication” develop around IM:

“IM provides a means of obtaining task relevant information rapidly and with minimal disruption, allowing a worker to ask clarifying questions without the expectation of engaging in a longer conversation. Alternatively, it can be used to participate in a sustained form of low-intensity collaboration… Setting up a line of communication via IM is as easy as making a phone call, and the line can be kept open indefinitely, allowing participants to query one another infrequently on an as-needed basis and with the expectation that a response will be forthcoming at the next convenient opportunity.”

The study goes on to show that using IM does not increase the amount of time an individual communicates, in place of using e-mail, telephone, or face-to-face conversations:

“There is no significant difference in the overall levels of work communication between IM users and non-users in terms of either the time spent in communication… or in the amount of information exchanged with colleagues… In other words, workers’ communication levels are unrelated to their use of IM, and there is certainly no evidence that IM use increases the overall amount of communication time. This might provide a partial explanation for why IM is not associated with an increase in interruption.”

As to why the perception persists that IM disrupts productivity, the study posits that IM users are more likely to use IM for personal communications. Increased non-work related communications could easily be construed as harming productivity. However, the researchers found that personal-based IM communications have the same benefits as work related IM communications in that they can be short and responses can be delayed or even ignored.

Hopefully, employers who view IM communications with suspicion or disdain will see the potential benefits that the communications medium can bring. While many work environments have come to embrace IM communications, it is often viewed as a necessary evil. Perhaps this study will show those employers that this power can be used for good as well.

TAKEN FROM www.hothardware.com

The health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs is occasionally a popular topic of discussion in analyst (and gossip) circles, particularly as it relates to his possible successors (or the lack thereof). Speculation is cropping up again following Monday’s WWDC keynote. AppleInsider has the full story, which involves a number of comments in the media suggesting that Jobs looked a bit peaked during the presentation and ultimately prompted a response from Apple.

Although Jobs’ health didn’t seem to merit mention by our own Jacqui Cheng or any of the other keynote live bloggers, press photos of Jobs during the keynote appeared on the Drudge Report site, along with a headline questioning his health. The Wall Street Journal picked the story up, and things have snowballed from there. Apple responded to the speculation by saying that Jobs has a “common bug” and is taking antibiotics, but wanted to give the keynote anyway. So yes, he’s sick, but no, it’s not anything serious.

After seeing the picture for myself, I feel like the story got blown way out of proportion. Although svelte in his turtleneck and jeans, Steve Jobs has always been a bit on the skinny side. When you only see a weird camera angle taken while Steve is making a strange face, I suppose one could jump to the conclusion that Steve has gotten a bit “gaunt.” I suspect having a minor illness didn’t help any, but it looks like Steve will be around for a many another keynote.

TAKEN FROM arstechnica.com

Whenever we’re asked “when is Firefox going to be released” we endeavor to answer to the best of our abilities, but the truth of the matter is that we’ll only ever ship “when it’s ready”. We have a lot of indicators that help us understand when the product is ready for release: feedback from our pre-release milestones, excitement in the community and the press, availability of compatible Add-Ons, and a large active beta community helping us ensure that the release is compatible with all the various sites on the Internet.

After more than 34 months of active development, and with the contributions of thousands, we’re proud to announce that we’re ready. It is our expectation to ship Firefox 3 this upcoming Tuesday, June 17th. Put on your party hats and get ready to download Firefox 3 — the best web browser, period.

TAKEN FROM developer.mozilla.org

Help Desk Software
Help desk software vendors specialize in providing internal service and support solutions that automate the help desk and service desk function. Typical functionality includes call management, call tracking, knowledge management, problem resolution, remote control, and self-help capabilities.

It should be noted that many of these vendors offer complementary products in the form of asset management, CRM, call center management, and related front/back office solutions. Vendors that specialize in these (and other help desk related offerings) are categorized elsewhere in this directory.

CRM & Call Center Software
CRM and call center vendors specialize in solutions that help automate the call center and customer management process including customer identification, communications, segmentation, analysis, sales and marketing. Some vendors in this category offer complementary solutions in the form of sales force automation (SFA), help desk software, and related front/back office solutions.

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Asset Management Software
The vendors listed here specialize in IT asset management, which focuses predominantly on automating the process of network, PC, and LAN auditing and inventory tracking and reporting. Some of these vendors offer complementary software in the form of help desk automation and related front/back office solutions. Also note that many of the vendors listed in helpdesk.com’s “Help Desk Software” category also offer asset management functionality as part of their core suite of offerings.

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Knowledge Management Software
Knowledge management vendors specialize in solutions that enable companies to more effectively manage structured data, unstructured information, collaboration, and document management. While a majority of these vendors focus specifically on knowledge sharing, search and categorization tools, some offer complementary products in the form of help desk automation, customer relationship management (CRM), call center management, and related front/back office solutions.

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Enterprise Solutions
Vendors that market enterprise solutions are typically large, global organizations that offer a broad range of IT applications and services including network management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), business intelligence, analytics, and business performance management (BPM). Note that not all enterprise vendors offer CRM and/or help desk and related service and support solutions.

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Complementary Solutions
Vendors in this category develop, market and support products that complement/supplement help desk, call center, and CRM software. Examples include bug tracking software, survey software, FAQ software, and password management and security software.

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Publisher’s description

In today’s competitive business environment, small and midsized businesses that want to grow and sustain an edge in the market must continually streamline and improve core business practices.

In many instances, technology-based solutions are integral to achieving operational efficiencies and to furthering key business objectives.

As businesses progress from small to midsize organizations, their dependency on IT solutions also increases. If you work for a midsize firm, your company has probably already automated several core business functions, such as inventory management, customer relationship management, and Web site content management. As these systems become more critical to keeping the business running smoothly and to ensuring customer satisfaction, they increasingly dictate that service desk personnel must handle problems more efficiently and effectively.

This often presents a challenge for midsize companies, many of which simply lack the IT staff and budgets needed to deploy, run and manage the industrial-strength help desk software solutions designed for large enterprises.

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