The Web Worker Daily weblog rounds up a handful of useful tweaks for using an instant messaging application at work without letting it ruin your productivity. For example:

Many IM programs allow you to be "invisible" to different contacts or contact groups when you come online. You can also be invisible to clients who rarely IM you anyway, and leave yourself visible for a few clients whose projects are more urgent. Taking advantage of your visibility settings can also come in handy if you use the same IM accounts for both personal and business contacts.

Instant messaging gets a bad rap in the workplace, but studies have suggested that instant messaging increases workplace productivity when compared to email, and IM can even reduce workplace interruptions. The catch: You need to know how to use IM effectively or the constant ding can ruin your productivity, and Web Worker Daily's list offers a nice take.

If you're on the hunt for a strong IM app, check out the five best instant messengers.

Windows only (for now): When Skype rolled out its first beta 4.0 release back in June, its enhanced video chat and managed conversation features came at a cost: a screen-filling app which wasn't necessarily helpful on ultra-portable devices and in which it was easy to lose notifications of chat messages. The newer beta, out this week, addresses those concerns by adding an optional 'compact view' that's more akin to classic Skype, and incorporating pop-up notifications on the taskbar (which you can switch off, fortunately). Those changes aside, the 4.0 release is still a little buggy (my install required a reboot and didn't accurately reflect available people to chat to). The current beta is still Windows only, but a Mac version is in the works.

Windows only: Up-and-coming instant messaging application Digsby has released a new update with significant performance improvements and added support for business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn. Performance improvements include optimised RAM usage (the fruits of the last test release), a snappier interface, better connectivity with IM networks, and bug fixes galore. Beyond that, the IM application that made its name by integrating with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter continues to improve by adding social network LinkedIn to the fold. Digsby has quickly established itself as a killer tool for managing and staying up to date with IM, email, and social networking, and right now the biggest question is: When will we see the promised Mac and Linux flavours? Digsby is a free download, Windows only.

On the heels of the Windows Live Messenger beta, Yahoo launches version 9.0 of Yahoo Messenger (Windows only) which now lets you embed video clips, Flickr images, and maps right in your chat window. Unless you choose "Custom Install" it will also try to put the Yahoo toolbar in your browser, so watch out for that. [via]

I'm currently at the Cisco Networkers conference in Brisbane, where one of the main features is a demonstration of the company's TelePresence systems (big-screen video conferencing systems for holding chats between office locations). You're unlikely to install one of those in your living room, but the Cisco crew, who are into video chat in a serious way, did pass on one useful tip that's equally applicable to webcam systems. Once you're sure that the camera is positioned correctly, get rid of the window showing yourself. If you keep your own image on screen, you'll tend to watch that, whereas if all you can see is the other end, you'll focus more on communicating and maintain better eye contact.

Free micro-messaging service Yammer, winner of the TechCrunch50 start-up conference's top prize, creates a private Twitter-like service for companies, filtered by work-assigned email addresses. Just like with Twitter, you can send direct messages and tag replies with "@" symbols, but Yammer adds a few organisational and corporate tools to the mix, including topic tagging, clients for BlackBerries and the desktop (through Adobe Air), and an IM interface. You obviously don't want to be posting up gossip or gripes here, as not only can anyone with a corporate email sign up, but if a company wants to buy in, they get administrative control over the network. Still, Yammer looks like a great way for a company (or any group with private email addresses) overwhelmed with "Taking off early Friday" emails to keep people in the loop with less clutter.

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The Digital Inspiration blog details a relatively simple method for creating your own interactive instant messenger "bot" that will take action once it receives an IM. Creating the bot requires an invitation from the IMified service, as well as some web space to host a bot script. Once you're set up, you've got an online presence that can reply with custom messages to chatters, send out group emails based on what you type to your secret IM contact, and much more. Hit the link below for a tutorial and example Google search script.

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Mac OS X only: The popular open-source instant messaging application Adium has released a significant update chock-full of improvements. Most notably, Adium is working to keep in step with IM apps like Pidgin and Digsby by integrating Facebook chat. In addition, the new release adds Cmd-F search to the contact list (a godsend), significant performance improvements, and lots more. Adium is free, Mac OS X only.

Windows only: Free multi-network instant messaging application Digsby is testing a new release with significant improvements. The very young IM client quickly found a place among the five best instant messengers with good looks and integration with social networks like Facebook, but its major drawback was a rather unwieldy memory footprint (over 150MB on some systems). The new release promises RAM usage more commensurate with other IM apps, sitting around a much more reasonable 30MB on my computer (according to their blog, it shouldn't get any higher than 50MB). In addition to memory improvements, this release also boasts performance enhancements, firewall and proxy fixes, and more. If the oversized memory footprint had held you back from using Digsby, the new release may be worth another try. Thanks Carl!

All platforms: Free multi-protocol instant messenger client Coccinella offers all the features of an IM app you'd expect, plus one more: a whiteboard. Chat on AIM, ICQ, MSN, and GTalk with Coccinella, which also supports voice chat. But the fun feature is the whiteboard which lets chatting pals collaborate with text, drawings, and image and audio files. Coccinella is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux.