We are Witnessing the End of the Age of Email.

[Cricket]

With email you have the chance to review your message, edit your words for accuracy or intent,  revise it or delete it before you hit the send key. Plus you have a record.
Once you let loose on the phone, you can't get it back.

I agree that the phone gets you a live response although I often prefer to leave a voicemail so the person can think about it before responding.

My point is we are all too hung up on instant.

[BridgeTroll]

My point is we are all too hung up on instant.

+1 

[uptowngirl]

a lot of companies (mine for one) are moving to instant message, obviously there is a need still for email, but most day to day conversations are occurring (and encouraged) via instant message. Groups at work are also utilizing applications such as FB to reach out to one another (all though for security purposes, this is not to be used for private business communications). Some companies are ahead of others in the technology arena, but soon asll will catch up :-)

[stjr]

a lot of companies (mine for one) are moving to instant message...

At my work, we have done somewhat the opposite.  How do you catalog and reference instant messages since these are more like running dialogues than discreet messages.  If saved, it still seems like a trying to find a single point of time on a continuous time line.  Can IM's be copied, forwarded, filed, cc'd to multiple parties, made more formal, etc.?

And, if you IM and the person isn't there to respond, what's instant about that?  How do you dialogue when you have no one to talk with? 

IM is nice but not the answer to me for all occasions. 

[Lunican]

There is no indication email is going away. You can't even sign up for twitter or facebook without an email address.

It has its limitations but it is not operated by a single company and can't be shut down.

[uptowngirl]

We recently with 2007 version, are able to save an categorize IM's with a title. Now not everyone titles them-but I am wokring on that change. In fact it is quicker for me to find archived IMs than emails now, because of the specific title, of course they MUST be titled for that to work.

I also agree as previously stated email is still priority for some types of com...but Instant Msg is cathing up daily and has all adavantages except attachments. Of course we store on SP or Discovery so a link or livemeeting is all that is needed :-)