The value of e-mail at Darwin Professional Underwriters is simple to see for the company's CIO, Bob Asensio: In Darwin's disaster recovery plans, the return of e-mail service needs to be almost instantaneous. "I believe e-mail probably is the most critical system our IT department manages," says Asensio.

E-mail has come a long way in a short time. Its use has become so massive some business people believe it is robbing people of interpersonal skills. A few businesses even have started No E-Mail Fridays, as if it could be controlled like business-casual wardrobe.

Sara Radicati, president and CEO of the Radicati Group, a management consulting company, estimates the average business user gets about 100 e-mail messages a day, and the number keeps growing annually. "The number is spiraling, but the problem is people are putting the focus [of perceived communication problems] on e-mail erroneously," she says. "If employees weren't using e-mail, it would be something else–meetings, phone calls, letters."

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