Instant Messaging is the answer to real-time e-mail and the need for personal communication on the web. Making audio/video calls, using several messaging systems at once and connecting to your colleagues and loved ones are just some of the ways in which one can use an IM.

An IM is an extremely personalised form of communication. In order to use the Empathy IM, you must have a pre-existent account in one of the messaging systems that Empathy supports, or create a new account. If you are an IM-newbie, just jump into the process and use the Empathy documentation whenever you're stuck.