Instant Messenging is becoming more and more important. Last night a Vice President at a major PR firm pleaded for help. "My friend deleted my domain and now I can't get into my stuff." I didn't know the answer, but my brother Alex was online too. I joined them in a conversation. I loved his answer: "you're screwed." But, the exec appreciated the answer from someone who definitively knew. Where else you gonna get tech support like that at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night? [The Scobleizer Weblog]

I agree. I use it all the time. I was at work on the phone with my tax guy and he asked, "What's your daughter's SSN?" Maybe I should know that off-the-top of my head, but I don't. So I IM'ed my wife and had the answer in 30 seconds. I've also had experiences like those described above, where someone IMs me asking for help and I tie them to another person who knows the real answer.

BTW, if you use MSN Messenger (aka Windows Messenger), then you need to check out Messenger Plus!, a nice little add-in. I don't use all of its features, but I certainly use its ability to log conversations. Very useful if you need to go back and see what was said.