By Jenni Adair

Being able to check my phone to see another person’s Mobile Presence and Status message (part of Enterprise Social Networking) has become such a habit that I get kind of annoyed when I can’t.

See, my work phone, a Nokia E71 running DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC), displays Mobile Presence and Status information, which means I can tell what my colleagues are doing at any given moment. And when you stop to consider that a large percentage of your waking hours are spent doing your job, you can see how habit-forming checking Presence can be.

Here’s what happens. I periodically scroll through the contact list on my DiVitas phone to see who’s doing what – even if I don’t necessarily need to talk to that person (and even if it’s the weekend and I’m not technically working. That’s the definition of a habit, right?). At the moment, for example, it’s 2:13 p.m. on a Tuesday and I can see that Amanda is busy writing (according to her microblog Status message) and not available to take my call (according to her Mobile Presence icon). Nancy is in a meeting – also not taking calls, but she’s available to chat by IM (mobile Instant Messaging). And Vivek is grabbing a coffee and free to talk or chat via IM. This information translates to:  
  • Don’t waste my time or cell minutes calling Amanda right now because she won’t answer.
     
  • Don’t waste my time or cell minutes calling Nancy either, but send her a brief IM letting her know she can take her time in her meeting because our 2pm has cancelled.
     
  • I can call Vivek or send him an IM – or even walk down the street and join him – because it’s one of those rare moments when he’s not busy.
From a business perspective, I save myself the time and effort of roaming the building looking for people. I am part of a highly mobile workforce and this on-the-go status defines my day. If I’m offsite, I save my company the expense of wasted cell minutes because I reduce missed calls and hence reduce cellular costs. I am more productive and the cost of supporting my business communications needs has become minimal. By using these Enterprise 2.0 capabilities I have contributed to more affordable telecommunications.

From a personal perspective, I can’t wait for the day when my cell company offers a service like this on my personal phone. I have grown so accustomed to Presence and Status Messages that I want it in my everyday life.