9 Underrated Technologies For Growing Companies

Put everything that's wrong with e-mail in one column: overwhelming message volume, spam, cc's to everyone in the company directory, bcc's to who knows who, forgotten attachments, and more.

Now put everything that's wrong with texting in another column: see here for the roster of texting woes.

Put the two columns side-by-side and you'll see a space between them. That's where you'll find instant messaging (IM). It's not without flaws and it's hardly new. But it is overlooked, forgotten, and so utilitarian in functionality that you almost forget you're using it -- in other words, a valuable tool.

Need an answer now? IM's your best bet. Need to send a URL to your colleague while you're talking on the phone? Send an IM. Want to know if anyone else agrees before you chime in with a strident comment on a conference call? Again, IM gets it done.

And though you can use a made-for-business pay-to-play version (and there are valid reasons why this might make sense for your business), you also can start using IM in a matter of minutes without spending a dime.

See More

• Smaller Businesses Confront Instant Messaging
• Time to Guard Your Instant Messaging Traffic
• Yahoo, AOL Push Phone-Over-IM

Don't Miss: 9 Overrated Technologies For Growing Companies