for corporate communications expected to surpass e-mail as the
             At IBM, 77 percent of employees say that IM has changed the way they
             communicate, lessening the time they must spend with e-mail and voice-mail,
             on the phone, and in face-to-face communications. More than 80 percent of
             IBM employees say that instant messaging makes their job easier. Among
             IBM's clients who have IM, more than 75 percent say that the technology
             makes them more productive. (Shukla)
             Besides IBM, many other companies, and even government organizations,
             are utilizing instant messaging, both as an internal way to communicate
             between employees, and externally to communicate with customers.
             (Eskenazi, et al 2000) Such diverse organizations as the toy store
             company, FAO Schwarz and the U.S. Navy, are using IM software in their
             daily operations. FAO Schwarz has a downloadable IM link to customer
             service on its website, whereby customer's can communicate instantly with
             customer service. The U.S. Navy uses an IM package called Sametime, which
             allows secure instance messages, to connect the 16-ship battle group of the
             Atlantic Fleet with one another. (Eskenazi, et al)
             Mobile phone companies are also beginning to offer instance messaging
             services as part of their package of features sold to customers. Sprint
             uses software designed by Bantu, Inc. to allow employees to chat while
             watching online PowerPoint displays, while Hewlett-Packard and WebEx offer
             more advanced feature rich software that allows on line messaging with
             PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, video and audio features targeted towards
             corporate meetings and training purposes.
             Closer to home, long-distance provider Sprint uses software designed
             by Bantu Inc. to enable employees to chat while watching online PowerPoint
             displays. Messages can also be sent and received by a variety of wireless
             A list of instance messaging service pr...