Just how long is an internet year? I've seen estimates ranging from 6 months down to a couple of weeks. Of course, this kind of guessing game is meaningless out of context, but we all acknowledge that the speed of innovation and change for anything web-related is phenomenal.

Even in the land of the lawyer (popularly known as Jurassic Park amongst the Net cognoscenti) things can change fast. Admittedly progress in legislation at UK and EU level may seem pedestrian, however trying to legislate for a constantly moving target is difficult, particularly where users and industry appeal for a light touch.

One area where the implications of the Net were first reduced to print and pumped out of lawyers' offices was the staff e-mail policy. The culture shock of e-mail and one or two well publicised libel cases meant that any sensible employer wished to have the do's and don'ts of e-mail use set in stone.

In due course, staff e-mail policies also covered internet use, and further cases on dismissal for excessive personal internet use during work hours made the establishment of clear benchmarks vital.

In the majority of businesses things have remained there but, as my clients are rapidly realising, e-mail and internet use is not the whole story, and this will increasingly be the case.

With the introduction of ever more sophisticated communications devices I feel it is essential that a broader staff communications policy is established. I have provided appropriate wording to clients in various sectors, and it is apparent that the issues are not confined to IT/ Telco/ E-businesses.

Some of the issues I feel a communications policy should cover:

• Expected response times upon different media
• Availability to receive information through allocated communications devices
• Storage and back up of information
• Authorisation for communications and information mining in various media
• Security procedures and the differing confidentiality considerations

As we become an increasingly mobile and flexible working society, in which I include home working, the multitude of communications opportunities require careful planning. Where individuals are receiving, sending and obtaining business critical information through multiple media it is in everyone's interests to know where priorities lie and where lines are drawn.

A staff policy should acknowledge that individuals are now often involved with many if not all of snail mail, couriers, fax, e-mail, static and mobile phone, voice mail and PDA together with face to face meetings. The introduction of yet to be defined third generation devices and the headlong rush towards technology convergence demands a forward thinking communications policy.

Is yours already obsolete?

This article was written by Mike Pettit, IT Partner at Taylor Walton Solicitors. If you would like to explore any aspect of IT law in more depth, he can be contacted on:mike.pettit@taylorwalton.co.uk, http://www.taylorwalton.co.uk