The Shifted Librarian calls this the 'Most Depressing Moment of the CIL Conference.'

"Mary Lee Kennedy is offering her "Top Tech Trends," and instant messaging is one of them. She asked how many of the hundreds of people in the room use IM for work purposes, and six (maybe seven) hands went up. If you take away Aaron, Michael, Bob, and me, that leaves two hands. Two freaking hands from people at a tech conference who use IM for work!!!!!!"

Rick Klau who's recently joined SocialText as head of  Business Development comments :

"Jenny - I totally understand your frustration. I recently left a mid-sized software company - people who definitely get it. Yet only two of us in the entire company (of more than 100 employees) used IM.

Now I'm at a company of 7, and not only do they all use IM, but we have an always-on IRC channel to which any of us can raise a virtual hand to ask questions. The difference is staggering: less e-mail, quicker turn-around on time-sensitive issues, and a steeper learning curve (i.e., meaning that I'm up to speed faster) by observing the conversations around me without being included in endless e-mail threads that don't apply.

At some point others will figure this out, right?

Right?!"

I certainly hope so ! 

You do have encrypted enterprise IM available - so i don't buy the argument that its not secure.

I do feel the new generation of employees will bring it into the workplace. 

Some companies are already listening !  They want presence indicators, they want quick, real-time communication.  Combine traditional IM with Skype-like voice quality and you might have a winner.

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