i prefer email as well especially for new clients.. i always ask them if they can email me all the details/instructions/specs for their design so i could get back to it anytime we got a problem. some people don't like email though especially a lot of people don;t like giving you more details for their designs so if the output sucks they blame it to their designer. what a shame
oh and my icq always fucked up.. i hate messengers on mac.. not reliable.. so email is the best way.. and my mail client is open 24hours a day like my browser.