|
While nine billion of these messages originate from PCs, PDAs and mobile phones, pagers account for an additional 3 billion.
The company says these numbers are beginning to grow and suggests that text messaging may be emerging as the "killer" wireless application. Furthermore, Gartner says standard messaging is being transformed into instant messaging which it describes as a "more collaborative, friendly mechanism."
Gartner says executives now are able to multitask during meetings using instant messaging and they are able to do it with less intrusive devices than laptops.
Although traditionally employees might be discouraged from pursuing such activities during meeting, Gartner suggests "productivity benefits on-line and off-line with this electronic equivalent of the grade school pastime of passing notes in class."
The company believes that bowed heads in meetings, where employees are probably sending text messages with their phones under the table, could become the new sign of disapproval or disinterest in what is being said.
"With 15 billion messages flying through our hands each month, that PowerPoint slide in the live meeting better be relevant and compelling," said Ken Dulaney research director with Gartner. "Otherwise workers will dive into more productive interactions via wireless IM."
"The IM activity could become a motivator for smaller, more succinct live meetings," according to the company. "The challenge for the for the agenda holders and meeting speakers is to command the attention of the live meeting participants who may switching underground to an IM sidebar."
|
