We tend to steer clear of instant messengers (IM) on Bizhack.net for the simple reason that their productivity in the workspace is debatable. Some company structures rely heavily on them, for example when employees are in many different locations or when customers like to talk over them, others block them entirely while regarding them as time wasting gimmicks.
If you do rely heavily on IMs then Digsby is a new offering with a seemingly bright future. Currently available on Windows (Mac and Linux coming soon) it allows you to simultaneously log into multiple IM networks (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber) which removes the gripe of having lots of IMs running on your computer at the same time. Whilst this in itself is nothing new, Digsby also lets you login to the recently released Facebook Chat, Myspace and Twitter accounts too. If you use social networking as a business tool, then access to these contacts alongside your IM networks can be very useful.
If IM is not enough for you, Digsby also allows you to manage your emails on Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP, and POP accounts. You can get email alerts, read and send emails directly from the Digsby interface.
Digsby supports file transfers and has an easy on the eye and minimalist interface. It is also pretty light on system resources which will be a breath of fresh air for Yahoo and MSN messenger users.
Digsby overall is a great tool for organising your online life and is certainly one of the first major contenders to enter the social networking fray as inbuilt chat becomes more and more commonplace. Watch out for this one, we think its going places…
