When John Fairey wants to chat with a colleague but has no time to wait for an e-mail answer or get up for a face-to-face talk, he clicks on the buddy list on his computer screen and pecks out an instant message. And he almost always gets an instant answer.

"It is significantly more efficient," says the 28-year-old equity researcher for Atlanta-based Pointer Capital. "It saves time."

Researchers say his company is on the cutting edge of a growing trend by providing software that allows workers to "talk" with each other on a "real time" basis, right from their desks.

Such software benefits employers by decreasing interruptions of workers, increasing productivity, according to a new study by professors Kelly Garrett of Ohio State and James Danziger of the University of California-Irvine.

Their study found that using instant messaging led to more but shorter conversations on computers, Danziger said. People ask colleagues to become IM buddies, and an icon on their screens lists those who are logged in, and thus ready to reply.

"The key takeaway is that instant messaging has some benefits where many people had feared that it might be harmful," Garrett said. He said the study of 912 people found that those who used instant messaging reported being "interrupted less frequently" than colleagues who didn't.

Danziger said instant messaging is used by at least 30 percent of workers with personal or company-provided IM software.

"The difference between IMing by computer or with a BlackBerry-type device is that you can see those who're ready to reply," he said. "It's a no-brainer that it's more efficient than face-to-face, telephone or e-mail communication."