--- Jesse Wilkins <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  
> "Do you allow employees access to commercial web-based email? Why or
> why not?"

This is really a multi-faceted question. Might be a good Survey Monkey
topic...

I'd like to extend the question a bit... do you (as your organization's
records manager) have an awareness of all the means of communication
that your organization's employees have? If so, have you and your
organization's leaders made business decisions to allow or disallow
various means of communicating that constitute records or your
organization?

So let's dissect that for a minute...

I would suggest that most organizations allow some desktop access to
the Internet. Generally, larger organizations will filter which
websites are allowed, whether or not downloads or streaming media are
permitted, and sometimes what searches can be performed. It is a fact
of life that people today use the Internet for business purposes and
that incidental personal use is often permitted within some bounds.

Those organizations that filter web access will usually make a decision
about web-based mail. My organization permits it and I have taken the
approach that my personal email is not conducted at all on my business
email address. (That's why you will rarely see my firm's email address
associated with one of my posts here unless it is official business.)

Tied to that, many organizations allow external web-based access back
into the organization's email system so that employees who are working
at home or traveling can get to their organizational email. (At the
next ARMA Conference, I invite you to discretely do some long-distance
shoulder surfing at the Internet kiosks -- you'll see a fair number of
Yahoo, AOL and Gmail icons, but I think you'll also see a lot of people
checking in on their work email -- please don't stand directly behind
someone and read their email, saying that I encouraged you to do that.)

The proliferation of mobile devices is a whole 'nother can of worms.

My Blackberry can communicate in text in these ways:

1) Through my organization's desktop email system. I can receive and
send all my work email through my firm's email system on my Blackberry.

2) Through the Blackberry's own email address. If allowed, your
Blackberry will have its own email address connected to your telecom
provider. (pjcunnin "xaxt" tmo.blackberry.net)

3) PIN to PIN. Blackberries have a unique identifier called a PIN.
There is a messaging system that allows PIN to PIN text messages (as
well as PIN to PIN instant messages). (23D5E967)

4) SMS messaging. This is the cell phone to cell phone text messaging
that most folks know (and our children overuse). (I'm not posting my
cell phone number, sorry.)

5) Gmail offers a downloadable email application for the Blackberry. If
you can install the app, you can get to your Gmail account. I haven't
looked very hard, but I expect there are others.

6) Most providers allow you to have POP and SMTP access via your
carrier's email system. That means that if you have web access to your
various email accounts, you can set up your Blackberry to periodically
poll those email servers and deliver your email to your Blackberry. You
can also send email using those external email addresses.

7) If your company has not filtered Internet access on the Blackberry
(there are two basic paths for Internet access -- one is directly
through your cellular carrier and the other is through your corporate
system -- these are set up at the system administration level if you
have a Blackberry Enterprise Server), you can generally access any of
the popular web-based email systems.

8) Instant messaging. I mentioned the PIN to PIN IM (Blackberry
Messenger). Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk also have Blackberry apps.
I suspect that there are others, plus any internal IM systems that your
organization may have that can be accessed by the Blackberry.

So on my single handheld device, I have at least 8 independent means of
communicating in text. How many do you have? And how many of them is
your organization aware of? Has the organization written a policy on
how you can use these messaging systems?

Lastly, what does your organization say about communicating
confidential information or personally identifiable information to
business partners, customers or clients? Do you have secure messaging
capabilities? Do you prohibit employees from sending confidential,
proprietary, or privacy-sensitive information to non-secure email
addresses?

So to my mind, this is what keeps me up at night when somebody asks me
how people communicate in textual form.

Oh yeah, there's always the postal mail and fax, too. But I haven't
figured out how to do those from my Blackberry.... yet. (But fax to and
from Blackberry is possible -- here's on example from a quick Google
search http://www.aircomusa.com/blackberry_fax.html)



Patrick Cunningham, CRM
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"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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