Top Brass Slow To Embrace Instant Message Technology; Explaining IM Benefits.(A)

Byline: BRIAN DEAGON

Instant messaging is a rare technology. Executives and teen-agers have declared it a "killer application."

More than 200 million Internet users subscribe to an instant messaging service, mostly for free. AOL Time Warner Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. dominate the market. Users send several billion messages back and forth each day worldwide, some estimate.

But there's one place where instant messaging hasn't caught on. That's in the executive offices of most corporations, even among chief information officers.

"CIOs find this technology frightening," said Ed Simnett, a product manager for Microsoft's Real-Time Collaboration Business Unit, which includes development and promotion of its IM business.

Simnett is trying to change this point of view. He regularly speaks to groups about the business benefits of instant messaging.

"Instant messaging can really add value to an organization," Simnett told an audience of about 200 at a forum on instant messaging in Los Angeles recently. He says companies that use IM can save time and money, increase worker proficiency and make decisions faster.