If you're someone who remembers what communicating online was like ten or fifteen years ago then you might know a little bit about the progression of instant messaging. It used to be that if you wanted to tell someone about how they might use their tax refund or where you should meet for dinner then you would have to email them. That all changed in 1996 with the creation of ICQ. This was an instant messaging service that could be used by anyone.

Instant messaging is pretty easy to understand. It is communicating with another person online where they are receiving your message as quickly as they would with a text and can send something back. There are many different ways that people are using this today, as they talk to their friends in downtown condos or communicate with colleagues in another office. ICQ was replaced in popular culture by MSN Messenger and that wasn't needed anymore when people moved on to Facebook Chat. Now, there are all kinds of different ways to use instant messages.

The simplest way is just to send types notes back and forth. You can tell people about your day working with a dentist or could keep your mother up to date on your life while you're away at school. There are also those that still like to communicate with people that they might not know in real life through chat rooms. Here you can converse with people in an effort to find your soul mate or could get advice from other people who suffer from flat feet issues.

Now, you can attach as much to an instant message as you can with most email services. If you are interested in sending a friend a funny video or sending a file to your secretary in the office while you're at home then you can do this through instant messaging. There are also many different messaging services that are meant for various types of people. Someone running a business selling real estate or as a lawyer might not want to communicate with potential clients through Facebook. There are even some web designers that can help you add instant messaging to your own website. This is a way to answer customer questions and even communicate with new people who might be interested in your products or services.

No matter if you are running a duct cleaning mobile operation like Advance Robotics or a stationary business such as Cannect, who helps people with private loans and second mortgages in Toronto, instant messaging can help keep communication lines open for all employees.