[xorxarle]

I'm not sure how effective or distributed the best knowledgebase softwares are (ours is OneNote and it isn't working IMO), but I think having the knowledge at your fingertips would be far less distracting than a minimum of two people occupying each other's mental resources long enough to exchange IP. Then what if people leave and take the IP with them. Have there been studies specifically measuring distractability or overall work performance with/without distracting instant messaging...? I'm not convinced these IM tools are the answer, but maybe with some sort of "Guide"/KB integration coupled with ML.

[coldacid]

OneNote is probably not working as KB software for you because it's not meant to be that. Consider it as a personal scrapbook with pages you might show to other people, and get a proper KB platform.

[bonesss]

OneNote works pretty well as a glorified wiki in small groups.

Naturally, these days, if that's what you need why not get a proper wiki going? I do know for some MS shops the pre-paid OneNote licenses make it a tempting substitute.