-----Original Message----- From: Christopher J. Wolff [mailto:chris@bblabs.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 3:17 PM To: nanog@merit.edu Subject: How important is IM? was RE: How important is the PSTN

So my question for the group is, do chat programs (IM, IRC, yahoo) serve a substantial network support purpose or are they more of a distraction, allowing staff to communicate with friends, relatives, drifters, interlopers on company time?

Regards, Christopher J. Wolff, VP CIO Broadband Laboratories http://www.bblabs.com

It also allows other employees to ask/answer quick questions, have an impromptu engineering con-call (with hard copy!) without having to get someone to approve the cost, provide a support channel for customers (ever try to talk a dyslexic through a command line config? cut-paste is your friend...), and several other things that we find useful. In fact, every engineer in the company is told to get a hotmail account and load MSN Messenger when they come on board. IMHO, abuse of company resources should be handled in HR, not IT. Tools don't waste time, people waste time... James H. Smith II NNCDS NNCSE First Call Response Center Professional Services - Network Engineer The Presidio Corporation