Using the Giraffe, a distant team member can interact and socialize with peers at their company's headquarters without ever stepping on a plane. An engineer can see and speak with anyone on the factory floor, even from a different country. These capabilities decrease travel expenses while fostering collaboration.

The Giraffe is a mobile robot that can be moved around its location by remote control using the Internet. The Giraffe allows a user to hear, see, and speak at a far away location, just like traditional video conferencing. This fusion of robotics and video conferencing allows a user to feel like they are at the robot's location. Because people near the robot can see and hear the user, they interact with him as if he were truly present. In a sense, the robot acts as a stand-in for the user.

Do you manage teams at multiple geographic locations? Now you can "manage-by-walking-around" even if you're not there. Keep teams focused on their goals and build camaraderie using impromptu water-cooler talks and casual chats, just like if you were there. If you manage a factory floor or lab space, you can inspect progress from afar without relying on periodic status meetings.

The new rules, which took effect Friday, require U.S. companies to keep better track of their employees' e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents in the event the companies are sued, legal experts say. They are part of amendments to federal rules governing civil litigation and were approved by the Supreme Court's administrative arm in April after a five-year review.

Companies and other parties involved in federal litigation must now produce "electronically stored information" as part of discovery, the process by which both sides share evidence before a trial. Federal and state courts have increasingly been requiring the production of such evidence in individual cases, and the new rules clarify that the data will be required in federal lawsuits.

Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing "virtual shredding" once a lawsuit has been filed, said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.

Large companies are likely to face higher costs from organizing their data, said James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co. Besides e-mail, he said, companies also will need to know about things more difficult to track, like digital photos of work sites on employee cell phones and information on removable memory cards.

There are hundreds of "e-discovery vendors" and these businesses raked in approximately $1.6 billion in 2006, Wright said. That figure could double in 2007, he added.

Lawyers may have to spend time reviewing electronic documents before turning them over, Lindsay said. Although electronic searches can help narrow the amount of data, some high-paid lawyers will still have to sift through casual e-mails about subjects like "office birthday parties in the pantry" to find the relevant information, he added.

Most companies are just beginning to wake up to the popularity of IM in the workplace. While more than a third of employees use instant-messaging services at work, only 31% of organizations have policies in place that specifically restrict the use of IM, according to a survey on workplace monitoring by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute. But the issue has caught the attention of leading industries. The National Association of Securities Dealers requires member firms to "supervise" the use of instant messaging the same way they do written and electronic communications and to retain electronic copies of instant messages for at least three years.

The survey found that only 13% of companies have started logging IM records, but the crackdown is starting to take effect: About 2% of employers have fired employees for something they said over IM. By comparison, the study said, 26% of companies have terminated employees for misuse of email.

There are several ways users can save IM sessions. Google Inc.'s Google Talk instant-messaging service automatically saves the chat sessions of users that have signed in with Gmail email accounts. Users of Google Talk can disable the setting or choose to go "off the record" during a particular session if they want to avoid having it saved. Other instant-messaging services, such as AOL's AIM, Yahoo Inc.'s Yahoo Messenger, and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Live Messenger, don't store conversations on their servers automatically. But they do offer various tools for companies and individuals to log conversations. Users can save an IM session by using a built-in save feature or by copying it into another file.

ZoomInfo has devised a search engine to ferret out job candidate, even if they aren't looking for a job. Subscribers insert their requirements--need a vice president of marketing, experience in networking in California-- and the search engine comes up with a list of potentials and assembles a roster of their educational background, experience and email address. It's part of a wave of vertical search apps that venture capitalists are funding.

"The best people aren't necessarily on the hiring boards," said Russ Glass, vice president of marketing. "We look at SEC filings, corporate web sites...In general, if people are on the web, we will find them."

But errors are common. It says Intraware CEO Peter Jackson went to undergrad at Stanford (uhhh-Berkeley) and worked at Accenture and EDS (that would be Intraware's COO). It couldn't find my wife by job title, but it found her by name. My brother was a complete no-show, although on Google I found his office and a quote in an article about treating patients with incontinence. I popped up, although my current job and educational bio didn't despite the fact that it's posted in several articles.

An Ohio company has embedded silicon chips in two of its employees - the first known case in which US workers have been "tagged" electronically as a way of identifying them.

CityWatcher.com, a private video surveillance company, said it was testing the technology as a way of controlling access to a room where it holds security video footage for government agencies and the police.

Embedding slivers of silicon in workers is likely to add to the controversy over RFID technology, widely seen as one of the next big growth industries.

"There are very serious privacy and civil liberty issues of having people permanently numbered," said Liz McIntyre, who campaigns against the use of identification technology.

But Sean Darks, chief executive of CityWatcher, said the glass-encased chips were like identity cards. They are planted in the upper right arm of the recipient, and "read" by a device similar to a cardreader.

"There's nothing pulsing or sending out a signal," said Mr Darks, who has had a chip in his own arm. "It's not a GPS chip. My wife can’t tell where I am."

Limiting access to sites: Employers are using software to block your access to specific Web sites, such as job search sites and personal e-mail accounts. However, if it's determined that you're visiting shopping sites too often, they have the ability to add them to the list of blocked sites, thereby cutting off your access.

Suspension of Internet privileges: If it's determined that your personal Internet and e-mail usage is excessive, expect your employer to suspend your privileges, especially if e-mail and Internet aren't essential to your job.

Monetary fines: This is perhaps where it hurts the most. I spoke to dozens of employers who say they already impose fines - or will begin imposing them - starting at $1,000 per violation for abuse or excessive use of Internet and personal e-mail.

Three-fourths of the companies monitored employees' Web site visits. Almost two-thirds said that monitoring was "ongoing" or "routine."

Just over half said they monitored phone calls. About one in five said they taped calls.

More than half reported using video monitors.

Notice of monitoring: Only two states (Connecticut and Delaware) require that employers inform workers if they are monitoring online activity, according to Jeremy Gruber, legal director, the National Workrights Institute. Federal legislation requiring such disclosure has been proposed but not enacted.

Privacy outside the office: More workers are telecommuting these days, often using laptops and other portable devices provided by their employer. But leaving the office doesn't guarantee freedom from internet surveillance.

Using the company laptop to remotely access its network is, from a monitoring legality standpoint, generally the same as working from the office, said Mark Schreiber, a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, who advises firms regarding internet use policies.