E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney : Quarles & Brady Law Firm : Electronic Discovery, Data Preservation, Conversion, Computer Forensics

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When a preservation order specifies that "electronic communication" is to be preserved,  there is a common misconception that this phrase refers only to e-mail correspondence.  Not so, my friends.  There are a bevy of other versions of electronic communication that are potentially relevant to the standard forensic collection process.

They include:

• Instant message communications (Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger and Skype, to name a few.)
• SMS or Text Messaging (not just for teenagers anymore.)
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
• Fax communications directly sent and received on a company's computer

Companies should be sure to make their computer forensic expert aware of what third party software has been installed and used on company computers so that all relevant electronic communications can be secured and preserved. For a full analysis of the importance of securing all types of electronic communication, see this helpful article from Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.