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Send an e-mail to Perseus Survey Software for tech support, and the staff will write you right back. But once a fifth message is exchanged, a supervisor always picks up the phone. Why? People aren't wired for electronic communication, says Temple University professor Ned Kock.

"The first written communication was about 30,000 years ago with cave paintings," says Kock. "That's less than 1 percent of the whole evolutionary cycle. Our biological communication apparatus has been optimized for face-to-face interaction."

To test his hypothesis, Kock gave 20 groups similar business tasks to perform—10 via e-mail and 10 in face-to-face meetings. While the e-mail group's quality was a little better, it took five to 15 times more effort to get the work done because of confusion and misunderstandings. The simple reason? In person, we also communicate through tone of voice, gestures, and facial expressions.

Do's and Don'ts Imperfect it may be, but e-mail is critical to business communications. Here are tips on using it well, courtesy of Christina Cavanagh: State the purpose of the e-mail in the first sentence. Use short paragraphs and bullet points for easy reading. Keep e-mail messages to one screen, excluding attachments. If you find yourself laboring over composing an e-mail, call or schedule a meeting instead. "People miss that human touch," says Christina Cavanagh, a professor at the University of Western Ontario. "When I talk about this, CEOs will say, 'Have you talked to the IT people?' But this isn't a technology fix. We're verbal and nonverbal. We have to mix it up."

The solution is to make online communication as much like face time as possible, says Kock. Streaming audio and video clips can demonstrate complex topics, and even adding a static picture of an online support rep can cool down overheated customers.

Of course, when in doubt, he adds, "Have a phone line available."

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Ziff Davis Smart Business.