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The role of presence awareness in organizational communication: An exploratory field experiment

Bret Shaw a; Dietram A. Scheufele b; Susan Catalano c a Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA b School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA c Independent Consultant, First Published on: 12 July 2007 To cite this Article: Shaw, Bret, Scheufele, Dietram A. and Catalano, Susan (2007) 'The role of presence awareness in organizational communication: An exploratory field experiment', Behaviour & Information Technology, 26:5, 377 - 384 To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/01449290500484450 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01449290500484450

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Behaviour & Information Technology, Vol. 26, No. 5, September – October 2007, 377 – 384

The role of presence awareness in organizational communication: An exploratory field experiment BRET SHAW*{, DIETRAM A. SCHEUFELE{ and SUSAN CATALANOx {Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA {School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA xIndependent Consultant Millions of adults currently use instant messaging (IM) in the workplace, and yet there is very little research examining how use and perceptions of this new medium affect intraorganizational communication. While one of the characteristics of instant messaging is the ability to exchange real-time communication, what truly distinguishes instant messaging from other widely adopted forms of mediated communication is the integration of presence technology, which allows parties to detect if others are online and available to communicate. In this paper, we propose a theory of productivity benefits of presence-aware communication technology, building upon past research. Based on this model, we use a quasi-experimental longitudinal research design to test how providing instant messaging to selected workgroups at a Fortune 500 company impacts employees’ attitudes and work behavior. Results suggest that IM use had a positive effect on improving productivity with participants citing reductions in voice mail and phone tag, improvements to how easy it was to see if colleagues were online and available to communicate as well as increased productivity served by back-channel communications conducted via IM. Results and future research directions are discussed. Keywords: Instant messaging; Chat; Presence-aware communication; Organizational communication; Collaboration

1. Introduction In 2004 nearly half of all online adults in the US—or 53 million people—used instant messaging (IM), and the number is continuing to grow according to a recent Pew/ Internet & American Life Project research report (Shiu and Lenhart 2004). Furthermore, instant messaging among adults is not just used for leisure communications but a significant percentage of people also use the application at work. There were 17.9 million unique IM users at work in the US as of August 2004 according to Internet media measurement firm, comScore Media Metrix, and IM is

currently being used at 84% of workplaces in the U.S. (Osterman 2003). If growth trends continue, there will be 182 million IM users at work worldwide by 2007 (Sampson 2002). Given how prevalent IM is in the workplace today and continuing growth trends, there is remarkably little theorizing and research examining how IM affects organizational communication (for some exceptions see Nardi et al. 2000, Huang and Yen 2003, Cameron and Webster 2005). As its label suggests, one of the characteristics of instant messaging is the ability to exchange real-time communication. However, what truly distinguishes instant messaging

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Behaviour & Information Technology ISSN 0144-929X print/ISSN 1362-3001 online ª 2007 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/01449290500484450

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from other widely adopted forms of mediated communication is the integration of presence technology, which allows parties to detect if others are online and available to communicate. In this paper, we propose a theory about the productivity benefits of presence-aware communication technology within organizations, building upon past research. Using a unique quasi-experimental longitudinal research design within a Fortune 500 company, we are able to test how providing instant messaging to workgroups at the company impacts employees’ attitudes and work behavior. 1.1 Technological and theoretical background on presence 1.1.1 Defining instant messaging. According to Internet. com’s Webopedia (2004), instant messaging is defined as a type of communications service that enables a person to create a kind of private chat room with one or more other individuals in order to communicate in real time over the Internet, analogous to a telephone conversation but using text-based, not voice-based, communication—typically the IM system alerts users whenever others on a private list are online and then chat sessions can be initiated when two or more parties are online. 1.1.2 The importance of presence. Detecting if another user is online is made possible through a technology called presence, which keeps track of the online status of all users (Peddemors et al. 2003; Perttunen and Riekki 2004). When a user logs on to their instant messaging application, their presence status is immediately available to colleagues. This capability is enabled when individuals log onto the Internet and their user ID and IP (Internet Protocol) addresses—a unique string of numbers that identifies someone’s computer on the Internet—are captured by a central server, which keeps track of a user’s log-on status. A presence server keeps track of users’ information and online status and can share presence information with other users. Presence capabilities can also do more than simply detect online status. They can communicate availability—such as whether they are idle or away. Presence information can also provide activity cues such as whether a party is typing a response to a query as well as communication capabilities—such as being connected via a mobile device. It is important to note that while the term presence is widely used in the technology industry and popular press to mean that somebody is online as well as whether and how they are available to communicate, academicians have explicated the term presence in myriad ways, some of which complement and inform the technical meaning of presence. In this paper, we aim to make linkages between the term presence as understood from a technological standpoint and presence as has been conceptually explicated in previous communication research. Of significant interest

to researchers in the area of organizational communication is what theoretical processes are enabled by online presence-aware technologies, and instant messaging is the most prevalent presence-aware mediated communication technology in the world today (Vaughan-Nichols 2003). As mentioned earlier, academicians have described presence in a conceptual sense in various ways but the most relevant definition for the purposes of this study is offered by Lee (2004), who defines the sub-domain of social presence as ‘a psychological state in which virtual . . . social actors are experienced as actual social actors in either sensory or nonsensory ways’ (p. 45). Lee argues that technology users pay great attention to technology-generated stimuli manifesting humanness, and this paper explores how the cues provided by the online presence-aware technology available within instant messaging can influence organizational communication processes. This is consistent with other conceptualizations of presence that involve social responses of media users to cues provided by the medium itself (Lombard and Ditton 1997) or how mediums filter and affect a technology user’s ‘sense of being with another’ (Biocca et al. 1993). In order to better understand the potential benefits of new technologies, such as instant messaging, we propose the notion of Presence-Aware Communication (PAC), in which the additional cues available to technology users will empower them to make decisions or take actions that streamline communication processes and improve productivity. PAC is defined as any form of mediated communication in which users are directly aware of the online presence status of their communication partners, both before and during the communication. While some e-mail programs integrate presence detection technology into their clients, most e-mail products today do not include this capability, and users have no information on whether their communication partners are available to read their message. PAC is also different from phone conversations where it is also not possible to tell in advance if the conversation partner will be available. In fact, additional technologies, such as voicemail, are often used to minimize the detrimental effects of a lack of presence awareness. Presence awareness, in this sense, is distinctly different from what Eveland defined as ‘interactivity’ (2003). He offers a ‘mix of attributes’ approach to classifying and studying the effects of new media. Most research on emerging technologies, he argues, can be classified using five attributes: interactivity, organization, control, channel, and textuality. Interactivity is the attribute that comes closest to what we label presence awareness. It is defined as ‘the extent to which communication reflects back onto itself, feeds and responds to the past’ (Newhagen and Rafaeli 1996, p. 6). This definition, of course, applies to e-mail, bulletin boards, and many other forms of online communications. It is distinctively different from presence

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awareness, i.e. the ability to gauge if a communication partner is available both before and during the communication itself. PAC, in this sense, is a necessary condition for more effectively using interactive media, such as e-mail or the telephone. 1.1.3 PAC as a basis for streamlining organizational communication. At the moment, most businesses are only beginning to understand the potential benefits of instant messaging for their organization. These potential benefits include making intra-organizational communication more effective by harnessing the potential of instant messaging as a new medium by overcoming shortcomings of existing modes of communication or by allowing users to coordinate conversations in another medium (e.g. Herbsleb et al. 2002; Isaacs et al. 2002). Given the relative dearth of research on instant messaging as a tool for effective organizational communication, we will first offer a number of examples and then outline concrete expectations based on the notion of presenceaware communication outlined earlier. For instance, somebody can use online presence awareness cues to learn if a colleague is available prior to making a call to avoid playing phone tag or leaving voice messages (e.g. Herbsleb et al. 2002). Presence-aware communication technology can help employees see when their team members are also working outside normal working hours to determine if it is appropriate to ask a question, seek feedback or otherwise collaborate on a project with a tight deadline to speed completion (e.g. Fussell et al. 2004). The immediacy of instant messaging combined with online presence indication can also help to optimize communication via back-channel conversations (Nardi et al. 2000). For instance, when a manager is on a conference call and needs the latest sales figures to inform a strategic decision, she can immediately ask one of her employees who she can see is online for that information via IM, reducing the need for follow-up and thereby making a faster business decision with the right data and potentially gaining a competitive advantage for her enterprise. Given our model of PAC outlined earlier, this study systematically examines the potential effects of instant messaging as a prominent form of PAC in organizations. Based on this model, it is reasonable to assume that instant messaging will help reduce communication cycles within organizations by making employees more aware of the presence of co-workers and by helping them reduce delays or unnecessary loops in other forms of communication through instant messaging. More importantly, this streamlining will increase levels of productivity within the organization by connecting team members more effectively to one another and allowing them to use both presenceaware and non-presence-aware channels of communication more effectively.

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As argued earlier, our theoretical model of PresenceAware Communication has very clear implications for organizational communication. Given the novelty of the construct of PAC in the research literature, however, we are cautious with respect to formulating concrete hypotheses. Our study therefore relies on the following three research questions. RQ 1: Does the introduction of instant messaging into an organization increase a sense of presence awareness among employees? RQ 2: What are the contributions of Presence-Aware Communication to streamlining traditional textual and nontextual communication channels? RQ 3: What are the influences of Presence-Aware Communication on organizational productivity? 2. Methods A panel survey paired with a carefully constructed training stimulus and qualitative interviews were used to understand intra-organizational IM behavior and attitudes toward this mode of communication as thoroughly as possible. The surveys and the stimulus were administered to employees at a globally distributed Fortune 500 company. In particular, we conducted three Web-based surveys (pre-test, post-training and post-test). At the beginning of the study, instant messaging software was installed on company servers and employees had the latest version of the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) software installed on their desktops. The comparisons we are particularly interested in are between the initial pre-test and the final evaluations of users at the end of the 9-week testing period. Of the 93 participants who completed the first questionnaire, 78 also completed the last one, resulting in a response rate of about 84%. One obvious concern with response rates is systematic bias. If the 16% of nonresponses are randomly distributed across our sample, potential error is also randomly distributed and cancels out across respondents. If the 16% of respondents who decided not to complete the second questionnaire, however, are uniquely different from the rest of the sample, the results may be skewed due to systematic error. It could be, for example, that employees who were especially dissatisfied with the new technology decided not to participate in the post-test. This did not seem to be the case, however. In fact, many employees were very eager to provide feedback and we even obtained responses to the post-test from employees who had not participated in the initial pre-test. 2.1 Data collection The pre-test was fielded in May 2003 before the introduction of instant messaging in the organization in order to test

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attitudes and behaviors. The second survey was fielded after training to ensure skills acquisition and the final survey was fielded at the end of the study to test how attitudes and behaviors had changed as a result of using instant messaging. Behavioral data recorded during the period of fieldwork suggests that the introduction of IM as a new communication tool in the organization was extremely successful. Employees were logged on to their instant messenger applications for an average of 166 hours during the 9 weeks of our fieldwork, which translated into 18.4 hours per week per user, and exchanged an average of 268 instant messages with other people in the organization. It is important to note that in this context, we define instant messages as individual messages exchanged rather than ‘chats’, which may include multiple instant messages exchanged within a given session. The behavioral use data from the central instant messaging server were collected to understand specific IM behavior at the group and individual level. These data were valuable in identifying highest frequency users, average time logged on and use of IM among employees and with outside partners and customers. Finally, several rounds of qualitative interviews were conducted. These occurred before the study to determine study objectives, mid-way to review the success of the study and allow for course corrections, and after the test was complete to cross-validate findings from the survey. The quantitative survey data and use data were also integrated to allow for a more nuanced longitudinal statistical analysis. 3. Results Seventy-eight individuals completed both the pre-test and the post-test study and are included in the below analysis.

At pre-test, 59.0% of study participants said they had used IM before. Among this group, 57.8% said they were either ‘quite familiar’ or ‘very familiar’ with IM, and 84.4% indicated their experience was primarily from personal rather than work use. 3.1 Patterns of communication In response to Research Question 1, table 1 shows a comparison of instant messaging (i.e. Presence-Aware Communication) within the organization and traditional voice-based and text-based forms of communication. Between the pre-test and the post-test, the reliance on instant messaging increased significantly by more than one scale-point. This change, however, did not come at the expense of different forms of traditional voice-based communication. In fact, the means for face-to-face communication, landline phone, and cellular phone remained very stable from the pre- to the post-test. Traditional textbased modes of communication within the organization, however, dropped significantly. Employees were significantly less likely to name fax, US mail, FedEx or UPS as the mode of communication that they were most dependent on after the introduction of IM into the organization. E-mail also showed a decrease, but the difference between the pre- and post-test measures was not significant. The lack of a significant decrease of employees’ reliance on e-mail may be in part a function of e-mail being the medium that employees relied most on for intraorganizational communication. The mean responses for employees’ reliance on e-mail was M ¼ 4.79 before the introduction of IM and remained high at M ¼ 4.72 in the post-test. The voice-based medium that complemented e-mail as the preferred text-based medium was landline

Table 1. Reliance on Presence-Aware Communication (PAC) vs traditional communication channels. ‘Most dependent . . .’ Pre-test

Post-test

PAC Instant Messaging

1.35

2.46

Traditional voice-based Face-to-face Landline phone Cellular phone

3.72 4.20 3.01

3.75 4.19 3.09

Traditional text-based Fax US Mail/FedEx/UPS E-mail

2.45 2.26 4.79

2.06 1.71 4.72

‘First use . . .’ Pre-test

Post-test

1.39

2.85

1.46*

0.03 70.01 0.08

3.77 4.34 3.20

3.56 4.12 2.92

70.21 70.22* 70.28

70.39* 70.55* 70.07

3.12 2.36 4.83

1.77 1.57 4.59

71.35* 70.79* 70.24*

D

1.11*

D

Notes: (1) The exact question wording was: ‘Which forms of communication are you most dependent on at work?’ and ‘How frequently do you use the following forms of communication [as the first mode of communication] to initiate communications with colleagues?’ (2) The scale anchors were 1 ¼ ‘not at all’ and 5 ¼ ‘extremely’. (3) Asterisk indicates a p-value of less than or equal to 0.05.

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phone, with means of M ¼ 4.20 and M ¼ 4.19, respectively, in the pre- and post-test. When asked about how frequently they used different forms of communication as their primary way of initiating contact others, those patterns were even more consistent. Employees were significantly more likely to use IM as their first form of contact. In fact, the mean for IM more than doubled between the pre- and post-test. As table 1 shows, this increase came at the expense of most other voice- and text-based forms of communication. 3.2 Presence awareness: reducing communication cycles The increased importance of IM as a tool for intraorganizational communication that we outlined above could simply be a function of the novelty of the medium. In other words, employees turn to the new form of communication based on their unfamiliarity with the new technology and the emphasis that was put on IM during its introduction between the pre- and post-test. Table 2 shows that this is not the case and demonstrates clearly that the expectations outlined earlier based on our PAC model were largely supported by the data (see Research Question 2). First, the introduction of IM as a tool for intra-organizational communication also increased presence awareness among employees. Respondents were significantly more likely to see IM as a useful tool ‘to see if colleagues are online and available’ in the post-test than they were during the pre-test. This perception is at least in part explained by what we label ‘collapsing communication cycles’. In other words, IM helped to reduce delays in communication and multiple iterations of phone-tag and related phenomena. Employees reported a number of directly presence-related outcomes related to the introduction of IM. During the post-test, employees were significantly more likely to report that IM

helped them to minimize voice mail and phone-tag by checking on the availability of their conversation partners prior to making the call. More importantly, however, they also reported a significant reduction in voice mails received each day and in the inconvenience of phone tag in their day-to-day interactions. Even though employees also reported leaving fewer voice mails, the difference between the pre- and post-test was not significant. The prominence of Presence-Aware Communication in the post-test and the reductions in communication cycles that came with it also led to an overall reduction in the volume of long-distance phone calls and e-mails for quick information exchanges. While employees reported lower volumes of both phone calls and e-mails, only the difference for phone calls was statistically significant between the pre- and post-test, which is consistent with the findings reported in table 1. 3.3 PAC as a precursor to intra-organizational productivity In addition to contributing to a more efficient communication environment by collapsing communication cycles, PAC has important implications for feelings of productivity, both individually and within employees’ work groups (see Research Question 3). As far as individual productivity is concerned, employees were significantly more likely in the post-test to report that they were normally productive, even if there were e-mail or telephone outages at work (see table 3). It is important to note, of course, that the increase in this context may be a function of IM partly operating on external servers maintained by America Online that are not affected by internal server outages and therefore provide a backup mode of communication, other than e-mail and phone. The introduction of IM also led to significant increases in employees’ perceptions of collaborative productivity. Employees were more likely to report in the post-test that

Table 2. Reducing communication cycles through presence enhancement. Pre-test

Post-test

Presence enhancement Useful to see if colleagues are online and available

3.93

4.14

0.21*

Reducing (pre-)communication cycles Minimize voice mail by checking availability prior to making call Reduce phone tag by checking availability prior to making calls Voice mails received each day Voice mails left each day Perceived inconvenience of phone tag

3.31 3.49 3.68 3.32 3.32

3.56 3.76 3.40 3.12 2.60

0.25* 0.27* 70.28* 70.20 70.62*

Displacement of existing forms of communication Reduce volume of long-distance calls for quick info exchanges Reduce volume of e-mail for quick information exchanges

3.32 3.66

3.68 3.76

0.36* 0.10

Notes: (1) The scale anchors were 1 ¼ ‘not at all’ and 5 ¼ ‘extremely’. (2) Asterisk indicates a p-value less than or equal to 0.05.

D

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Table 3. PAC as a precursor to intra-organizational productivity. Pre-test

Post-test

D

3.72

4.03

0.31

Team members usually respond to me as quickly as I need them to

3.64

3.96

0.32*

There are times I am on the phone that I want to ask a team member not on the call an immediate question to make the call more effective (downward trend is positive)

3.71

3.32

70.39*

2.83

3.10

0.27*

2.64

3.10

0.46*

Collaborative I have the tools I need to collaborate efficiently with team members

Individual I am normally productive when there are email outages at work I am normally productive when there are telephone outages at work

Notes: (1) The scale anchors were 1 ¼ ‘not at all’ and 5 ¼ ‘extremely’. (2) Asterisk indicates a p-value of less than or equal to 0.05.

they had the tools necessary to communicate efficiently with team members, even though the difference did not reach conventional levels of significance. They were also significantly more likely to report that team members responded to them as quickly as they needed them. Most indicative of the notion of Presence-Aware Communication, however, is the fact that employees were significantly less likely to be frustrated by not being able to use backchannel modes of communication to make traditional information exchanges, such as phone calls, more effective. Allowing users to communicate with others during conference calls or face-to-face conferences is obviously one of the most prominent advantages of IM. It can be argued, of course, that e-mail could fulfill a similar function. Our unique quasi-experimental pre – posttest design in a large corporation, however, clearly demonstrates that IM makes a unique contribution to the corporate communication climate in this context. In other words, the element of presence awareness allows users to uphold two streams of communication simultaneously, collapse communication cycles, and—as a result—make both types of communication more efficient. 4. Discussion This study examined IM as a tool for streamlining intra-organizational communication and improving productivity. Our analyses were based on the concept of Presence-Aware Communication (PAC) and its potential impact on organizational communication. Before outlining

broader implications of our findings for organizational communication, however, it is necessary to briefly discuss the nature of our data and their impact on our conclusions. First, our data were collected in collaboration with a Fortune 500 company providing us with the opportunity to conduct a carefully planned field-experimental study, including both pre- and post-tests, with maximum levels of external validity. We were able to observe IM use in a real-world setting and measure outcomes through both selfreports and behavioral use data. Unfortunately, the percentage of employees from the organization we were able to target for this study was relatively small. This, of course increases the chance of making Type II errors, i.e. of not identifying relationships in our sample as statistically significant, which do exist in the population. Given the relatively clear patterns of results across multiple indicators (see tables 1 – 3), we are not overly concerned about this problem. Our concern was further attenuated by the fact that this study is the first of its nature and therefore, by definition, very exploratory. Second, it could be argued that many of our results are based on a Hawthorne effect or some form of reactive measurement effect. In other words, it could be possible that respondents reported higher levels of productivity simply because they knew they were being observed. This concern turned out to be unjustified. In fact, many of the indicators of potential benefits of IM that were not directly relevant to the theoretical model examined here turned out not to be significant. In other words, respondents did not report increases in other types of behaviors and attitudes simply as a result of being observed. Our third concern related to the exploratory nature of the items used on our questionnaire. Given the novelty of the construct of PAC and the lack of established operationalizations of IM use and perceived benefits, we developed many of our indicators for this particular study. In order to minimize the chance of random measurement error, we used multiple items for most constructs. In addition, all items were developed with direct input from industry experts and consultants in order to maximize face and content validity. In the tables, we chose to report the items individually in order to demonstrate effects for each of the different measures of communication or attitude. Most of these potential concerns, of course, are dwarfed by the uniqueness of the data that were available to us. We collected real-world communication data from a Fortune 500 company. In doing so, we were able to introduce IM as a new form of Presence-Aware Communication and observe a sample of employees before and after the stimulus was introduced. Moreover, we were able to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. This provides us with a highly generalizable data set that provides unique insights into the potential of IM as a tool for streamlining communication processes within organizations.

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With these considerations in mind, a few clear patterns emerge. Answering Research Question 1, our study showed a significant increase in presence awareness among employees. It is also clear from this analysis, however, that in many cases IM complemented rather than displaced other technologies, directly addressing our second research question. For instance, one of the primary benefits of online presence awareness was using the telephone more effectively, reducing the volume of phone tag and voice mail. This is consistent with predictions and findings from previous research (e.g. Herbsleb et al. 2002, Isaacs et al. 2002, Muller et al. 2003). Similarly, while respondents claimed they were still most dependent on e-mail and telephone as forms of communication at work, e-mail and telephone usage decreased significantly and instant messaging increased significantly as the channel of communication people were likely to use first to initiate communication with colleagues. The idea that Presence-Aware Communication empowered effective back-channel communication (e.g. request quick answers to questions while engaged in separate call or remind an employee to clarify something or bring up a point) was also a noteworthy finding that deserves special notice, especially since it directly addresses Research Question 3. Presence-Aware Communication conducted via IM allows people on a telephone call to immediately ascertain whether somebody they want to communicate with is online and available to respond so that a call can be made more effective. For instance, back-channel communication can help improve customer service as illustrated by the following comment by a study participant in his posttest interview: ‘I can remember a particular case where I was monitoring one of our support analysts and a question was asked of him that he could not answer, I was able to give the answer [to the analyst] and helped the customer.’ It is important to note that in this study, Presence-Aware Communication reflects the most prevalent state of enterprise communications today where text and voice applications operate independently from one another (e.g. landline telephone, cellular telephone, e-mail, instant messaging). The collaboration technology industry is moving toward integrated messaging in which multiple modes of communication may be contained within a single interface. For instance, rather than just using the instant messaging to see if a person they want to communicate with is online and instant messaging them to ask if they can talk on the phone, technology is already available that will use online presence information to indicate that a potential communication partner is indeed online but that the person is also on the phone and not available to take a call. Using this more nuanced presence information, the communication initiator may either send an instant message asking the individual they wish to communicate with to call them when they are off the phone or set an automatic alert to

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inform them when the person is off the phone and potentially ready to receive a new phone call. There is significant potential to extend presence capabilities into complementary communication channels (Nardi et al. 2000), and such enhancements may significantly amplify the productivity effects found in this study. This study admittedly focused on the potential benefits of presence technology, and future research should examine productivity inhibitors that may occur with presence-aware technology such as using instant messaging to communicate about idle chit-chat with colleagues, friends or family or the disruptive possibility of having instant messages pop up with such frequency that it is difficult to optimally prioritize one’s time. Presence information may also be abused so that people’s privacy is violated (Muller et al. 2003), causing a backlash against using presence information that could limit the productivity potential of PresenceAware Communication found in this study. For instance, to avoid annoyance or disruption in some contexts, people may choose not to share their online presence information at all or they may ignore incoming communications, thereby undermining the perceived value of presence-aware information for enhancing enterprise communication and thus reduce its perceived value and use. Possible remedies to this issue include offering communication recipients the ability to limit sharing their presence information to only particular individuals they want to communicate with at particular times. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Michael Sampson for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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