Instant Messenger Protection Can Save Businesses Millions of Dollars

(PRWEB) July 19, 2007 -- Move over World Wide Web, there's a new time-waster in town--and a new way of optimizing Internet filtering for business. Imagine combining the convenience of email with phone conversations and you have instant messenger (IM) applications such as AIM, Google Chat, and many others. These applications offer more ways to carry on personal conversations on company time, costing productivity and money--and creating a new demand for instant message protection.

Recent surveys have shown that almost two work hours are wasted everyday--almost half of that spent online--and that more than 85% of employees use company Internet for personal activity, demonstrating why Internet filtering for business is so critical. Two years later, IM applications are running neck-and-neck with web surfing as online wasted time. In fact, IM's very nature lends itself to be more invasive than web surfing alone, and IT departments need effective instant message protection.

Why Instant Message Protection?

What's so important about instant message protection? Imagine being able to waste company time under the guise of working--that sums up how IM can be utilized. Making personal phone calls is conspicuous, but holding that same conversation over IM can be discreet; for undisciplined employees, it could cost the company countless dollars.

Web & IM: Internet Filtering For Business

Managers should note the difference between the invasiveness of IM usage and web surfing. Web surfing is a singular activity and can be blocked by standard Internet filtering for business. IM is a community activity that involves reaching out to others to chat. This also opens the door to others externally inviting the employee to chat, creating work-wastage events not initiated by the employee--and as a standalone application, instant message protection requires a different set of tools.

Because of its conversational nature, instant message protection is necessary for all employee computers. Assuming the average employee wastes two hours a day through IM at an hourly wage of $20/hour, wasted time costs approximately $10,000 a year. For small businesses, the costs will be in the hundreds of thousands. For large corporations, numbers can easily break into the millions.

Getting The Right Instant Message Protection

"The trick to maintaining worker productivity is simply eliminating the cause," says Comvigo founder James Tanner. Comvigo publishes IM Lock Professional and IM Lock Enterprise for instant message protection and Internet filtering for business. "Without a full-sweep blocking mechanism, IT departments waste even more time searching for and deleting applications. And that doesn't prevent future re-installation."

"IM Lock offers instant message protection that detects specific applications and blocks access to them," Tanner says. Tanner realizes that some companies want to let their employees enjoy IM to communicate during breaks. "At the same time, Comvigo's IM Lock features a scheduler allowing employees to use IM at designated break times, such as lunch hour. This offers flexible Internet filtering for business while compromising with employee wants."

With IM usage becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace, appropriate Internet filtering for business environments is critical to minimize wasted time and money. Instant message protection such as Comvigo's IM Lock is becoming increasingly necessary to ensure that time, money, and productivity are always focused and optimized.

For more information on Comvigo's IM Lock and its capabilities, visit Comvigo IM Lock (http://www.comvigo.com).

Contact:

James Tanner

312-933-3385

###

This press release has been reprinted from PRWEB per the terms and conditions of the copyright notice.

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