I have heard many different opinions on the topic of instant messengers in relation to contacting and communicating with prospects and clients. Is it a good method of contact, or a poor use of time? That is the question. The old fashion way of contacting and communicating with someone was to pick up the phone and dial. Nowadays, so many people communicate through email and other online forms, i.e. instant messenger, that it may be the direction business communication is moving. I would like to hear what the great minds of this forum believe. Not only believe, but what they have actually experienced and can justify.

I use trillian that runs all messengers at the same time through one program. That way no matter what program my client is using they can reach me. Messengers now days do have voice options and even camera options so you can set up a meeting where you can see each other just as if you were sitting across the table from each other.

Not always good for me since half the day I'm still in my robe.

I do use the phone sometimes but usually just for those who don't have a messenger.

I think using a messenger gives another option than sitting on hold on a phone line.

At work, I use business-related IMs. One office wanted Yahoo, so we all had [ourname]_companyname IMs. One office wanted AIM, so we all had [companyname]_ourname IMs. We don't use it to communicate with clients (at least not often), but I know a lot of people who are starting to take advantage of doing that. Sometimes you can still make your phone call, but sometimes IM makes it easier to multitask, and that's probably the biggest benefit of all.

Just be aware, though: IM is a tremendous productivity waster. I do most of my work on a computer that has no IM.