Skype Users Most Active During Office Hours, Says Study

Skype users are most active during work hours, according to a new study from Cornell University. Peak time in the United States is noon CST. Unfortunately, the researchers didn't differentiate between chit chat and business usage. That's a shame, because while commercial VoIP and IM products are useful for communicating with customers and co-workers, they're also fraught with productivity and compliance problems. Skype, which encrypts voice and data packets, makes it easy to sneak sensitive information out of the enterprise.

Bottom line: Ensure users have all the productivity tools they need so they don't have to turn to Skype. That also makes it easier to weed out the high-tech slackers. --Andrew Conry-Murray, [email protected]