INSTANT MESSENGER AOL www.aim.com $0

Instant messaging, not long ago the domain of teenagers, is on the verge of becoming a mainstream communications tool in business envi-ronments. But there's a catch: Consumer-oriented IM applications don't have the administration tools IT departments prefer, while business-oriented IM apps are more limited in reach. For those who can't wait for a resolution, AOL Instant Messenger is the way to go.

With 150 million users, AOL Instant Messenger is by far the most widely used of the free consumer IM applications. That's important because IM apps don't interoperate. By going with the most popular tool, you can communicate with more people. "AOL is ubiquitous. If people don't have it, they know about it," says Steve Slovak, a broker with Fimat USA Inc. AOL Instant Messenger is Slovak's IM app of choice, although he also uses Yahoo Messenger. Both often run on his desktop computer for 10 hours a day.

While some companies frown on the use of consumer IM tools, Fimat is one of a growing number of businesses that can't wait for an industrywide standard to solve the interoperability issue. In the brokerage industry, brokers and dealers use an assortment of IM tools to communicate online and in real time with tech-savvy clients.

For IT departments that want control over the informal adoption of IM among employees, the options include FaceTime Communication's IM auditing software, which logs and archives IM sessions from AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and others for as little as $10 per user, per year. FaceTime lets brokers like Slovak use consumer IM tools, safe in the knowledge that doing so doesn't jeopardize their companies' ability to comply with regulatory requirements.

The other--and, in the long run, better--options are emerging business-oriented IM systems, such as recently launched services from AOL and Yahoo, and a pending service from Microsoft. Those approaches, which require an IT department's support, should interoperate as standards mature.--Tony Kontzer