5 years ago... IM rapidly connects AOL and Novell

08.10.99: Following an agreement in August, America Online (AOL) and Novell have unveiled a tool that enables AOL instant messengers and Novell Directory users to communicate.

Called instantme, the technology lets digitalme customers send instant messages to people listed in their digitalme NDS powered address book and the 45 million AOL users.

08.10.04: To say IM has really taken off over the past five years would be an understatement and nowhere more so than in the workplace. According to estimates there will be around 350 million people using IM in the workplace by next year.

Much of this is down to complementary benefits IM offers alongside email, such as 'status' - knowing if the recipient is at their desk and available, or not. It may also be down to a growing feeling that email can no longer hack it, due to the proliferation of spam and viruses which have made it almost unusable, and certainly unreliable, in many workplaces where effective communication is key.

The appearance on the horizon of compliance issues has forced some companies to reconsider the use of IM on their networks - but it is now too firmly engrained in the way many companies operate to be reined in altogether.