As you work on a spreadsheet, you realize you need data from a co-worker down the hall. With the report due in a matter of minutes, you type an instant message asking for the information. As you continue to enter numbers on the spreadsheet on one monitor, the instant message reply pops up on the second monitor on your desk. With a few clicks, you transfer the data to the spreadsheet-without ever having to minimize a screen.

More frequent use of instant messaging in the office and dual computer screens on the same desk are two highlights of what's happening in 2005 with technology.

"Instant messaging in the workplace is going to be huge," says Jeff Locketz, a partner with Leading Edge Alliance firm Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company. "It will overtake e-mail."

In addition, instant messaging enables managers to see who is online even if they're 1,000 miles away, he says. It's all part of the growth of the virtual office.

Dual computer screens are another impending trend, says Jeff McCulloch, president of Yeo & Yeo Computer Consulting, a Leading Edge Alliance-related company.

The dramatically falling price of glass in Asia markets is enabling the change, he notes. The reduction in costs means computer monitors are cheaper to make, thus opening up the opportunities for office users to benefit from two monitors on the same desk.

"For anybody in an environment who's always trying to scrunch screens, it's great," McCulloch says.

No more minimizing and maximizing or opening and closing files to input data from one document to another, he explains.

In addition, computer users no longer will have to turn around their single computer screen for a client to see. Instead, the client can look at the second screen to see exactly what's being entered and how the results appear.

Yeo & Yeo is conducting a dual monitor trial run in its tax department. The staff can read supporting documents on the left screen, then drop and drag the information onto the right screen-plugging it in where it's needed. "It saves minutes from opening a new file," McCulloch says.

"Our staff is excited about the new dual monitors," he adds.

By 2006, McCulloch expects most Yeo & Yeo users to have two monitors on their desk. Employees are finding such satisfaction and the pricing is so much more affordable today, he says.

"The payback time is real quick," McCulloch adds.

Glass prices have affected the market significantly. For example, a monitor priced at $400 last June was $300 only six months later. That's a 25-percent drop and the market is constantly changing, McCulloch says.

A CRT monitor could be as inexpensive as $100, with nice ones costing about $120, McCulloch says. Low-end flat screen monitors currently are around $200.

In addition to the monitors, the only cost for dual screen implementation is perhaps an additional video card for a desktop computer, McCulloch says. Laptop computers already have the capability to use two screens. In addition, operating system software such as Windows XP has the necessary technology built in for dual display.

With all the advances in technology to increase ease of use, Locketz says the No. 1 concern for information technology departments this year continues to be security and will be for years to come.

"Disaster recovery, building internal hot sites in different geographical areas and business continuity planning are all at the top of the list," Locketz says.

Also, many businesses soon may be confronted with the power and cooling challenges presented with all these technological advances, he says. With more equipment packaged in smaller spaces, the demand for greater wattage per square foot and higher levels of cooling will exist.

So when digitizing data to reduce the cost of storing all that information, thought also should be given to the constraints of the data centers. Companies should evaluate the necessary watts per square foot, the air conditioning required and whether data centers are electrically wired to provide such support, Locketz says.

"The power requirements are phenomenal," he says. e