instant messaging

Instant messaging, often shortened to simply "IM" or "IMing," is the exchange of text messages through a a software application in real-time. Generally included in the IM software is the ability to easily see whether a chosen friend, co-worker or "buddy" is online and connected through the selected service. Instant messaging differs from ordinary e-mail in the immediacy of the message exchange and also makes a continued exchange simpler than sending e-mail back and forth. Most exchanges are text-only, though popular services, such as AOL, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Apple's iChat now allow voice messaging, file sharing and even video chat when both users have cameras.

For IMing to work, both users must be online at the same time and the intended recipient must be willing to accept instant messages, as it is possible to configure the IM client to reject chat sessions. An attempt to send an IM to someone who is not online, or who is not willing to accept IMs, will result in notification that the transmission cannot be completed. If the online software is set to accept IMs, it alerts the recipient with a distinctive sound, a window that indicates that an IM has arrived and allowing the recipient to accept or reject it, or a window containing the incoming message.

Under most conditions, IMing is truly "instant." Evenduring peak Internet usage periods, the delay is rarely more than a second or two. It is possible for two or more people to have a real-time online conversation by IMing each other back and forth.

Once in a while, a person might receive an IM from someone while already engaged in a chat with someone else, and decide to carry on IM chats with both people independently and concurrently. This requires mental alertness to avoid the embarrassment of sending one IM companion a message intended for the other, though younger "netizens" often pull off this level of multi-tasking as a matter of daily practice.

Developments in mobile cellular phone technology now allow handset users to always be available via IM, through such popular devices as the T-Mobile Sidekick II or other smartphones.See also IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and ICQ (I Seek You).

Getting started with instant messaging

To explore how instant messaging is used, here is an additional resource:

IM slang glossary: This handy glossary defines many popular or amusing acronyms and slang used in online chat.

Instant messaging (IM) tutorial: This comprehensive tutorial details the ins and outs of instant messaging (IM), a real-time communication application that is essential to unified communications (UC) systems.

Maximizing instant messaging ROI requires education on pros, pitfalls: When integrating instant messaging into business processes, implementing the right policies and offering comprehensive education on use can be as important as buying the right technology in seeing an instant messaging return on investment.

Reality Check: Enterprise IM security and social networking security: In this podcast you'll learn about the best practices for maintaining enterprise IM security and social networking security policies, especially when it comes to securing social networks.

Learn more about Presence and Real-Time Communications

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web: - AOL has an Instant Messenger Web page where you can sign up and download the software. - Jabber.org provides more about Jabber instant messaging.

FILE EXTENSION AND FILE FORMAT LIST File Extension and File Format List: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

RELATED CONTENT Enterprise social networking may enhance, not yet replace, presence Enterprise social networking might seem the perfect way to enable greater unified communications (UC) adoption, but not on its own nor without the... Primer: Presence technology in unified communications Learn about presence technology, as it enables unified communications and collaboration to make employees more productive. Presence protocols and best practices Find out how any IT department can create guidelines and rules for presence protocols in this best practices tip.

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary presence leveraging  (SearchUnifiedCommunications.com) Presence leveraging refers to any technology that supports and expands presence, the ability of a network subscriber to locate and identify any other... real-time communications  (SearchUnifiedCommunications.com) Real-time communications (RTC) is any mode of telecommunications in which all users can exchange information instantly or with negligible latency. In...