▁increase . ▁Initial ly ▁the ▁available ▁methods ▁were ▁mostly ▁asynchronous ▁forms ▁of ▁communication ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁email ▁and ▁ma iling ▁lists ▁or ▁even ▁re lying ▁on ▁period ical ▁written ▁publications ▁to ▁spread ▁information . ▁S ynchronous ▁and ▁efficient ▁communication ▁would ▁be ▁mostly ▁limited ▁to ▁tele phone ▁calls ▁. ▁ ▁In ▁this ▁early ▁stage ▁there ▁aren ' t ▁many ▁accounts ▁of ▁this ▁kind ▁of ▁distributed ▁development ▁on ▁an ▁enter prise ▁setting ▁. ▁However , ▁the ▁develop ments ▁and ▁tools ▁of ▁previous ▁years ▁pione ered ▁the ▁necessary ▁means ▁for ▁companies ▁to ▁start ▁investig ating ▁and ▁adopt ing ▁these ▁practices ▁when ▁advantages ▁could ▁be ▁obtained . ▁More ▁tools ▁such ▁as ▁Audio ▁confer encing ▁and ▁Inst ant ▁mess aging ▁appeared ▁mostly ▁for ▁other ▁purposes ▁but ▁were ▁quickly ▁adopted , ▁and ▁continued ▁to ▁push ▁forward ▁the ▁idea ▁of ▁distributed ▁development . ▁This ▁new ▁movement ▁created ▁an ▁interest ▁in ▁the ▁area ▁of ▁study ▁that ▁is ▁Communic ation ▁in ▁Dist ributed ▁Software ▁Development ▁to ▁further ▁improve ▁the ▁effect iveness ▁and ▁quality ▁of ▁the ▁development ▁process . ▁ ▁Import ance ▁ ▁Software ▁development , ▁in ▁general , ▁requires ▁a ▁great ▁deal ▁of ▁information ▁exchange ▁ ▁and ▁studies ▁show ▁that ▁a ▁great ▁percentage ▁of ▁a ▁developer ' s ▁time ▁is ▁spent ▁on ▁collabor ative / communic ation ▁activities . ▁While ▁formal ▁communication ▁is ▁used ▁for ▁essential ▁tasks ▁such ▁as ▁updating ▁a ▁project ▁status ▁or ▁determ ining ▁who ▁has ▁responsibility ▁for ▁any ▁particular ▁work , ▁inform al ▁communication ▁is ▁also ▁cru cial ▁for ▁the ▁development ▁process . ▁Inform al ▁communication , ▁or ▁"