Conversationware

The place to start thinking about presence is with the most simple change of status.

If I’m logged in at the desktop, I may be available, but if I’m not logged in, then I may only be contactable by the telephone.

So, call me if you need to.

The ‘need to call me’ part is of most significance here, and there are two sides to the benefit of being logged out;

1. Calls from my contacts are now more sporadic, because with them knowing I’m away from my desk, it allows them to re-schedule that item of middling importance for when I AM at my laptop screen, and hence more able to deliver.

2. So, logic says, and experience bears out, that when people now call me, they have already made a decision not to wait until I return to my desk. Which means my calls are nearly always more important.

The result is that when I’m mobile, I get less calls, and they’re more important

What this means is that when you roll out presence tools, it’s important that management communicate the importance of not hiding behind the ‘make it seem like you’re offline’ tool. Instead, use busy, or not interruptable wherever possible. The distinction is important for others in their decision making.

Equally, if I log on to some mobile presence element of the tool - there needs to be distinction between mobile and desk, for the reasons above.

The fact is, managing my mobile ’status’ will probably interrupt my attention, and therefore isn’t worth the effort. The only mobile status of interest to me is whether we’re on the phone or not - which we will have to spoof, awaiting desperately needed innovation.

With that in mind, I am still a fan of the iotum approach, especially from a subject driven conversation point of view.