1.0 INTRODUCTION
We are living in a Jet age and world that can
now be described as a global village.
Consequently, technology revolution has been
witnessed in recent past. Communication
has also been a beneficiary of such useful
technologies. This has actually changed the
forms of business communication. Information
is sent across the world in a twinkle of an
eye. This is really helping businesses to
grow. In fact, the level of technology that is
available at a business’s disposal will
determine the extent of success of the business.
This note will explain what communication
technology is all about
2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE NOTE
On completion of this note, you should be
able to:
· State the importance of
communication technology to business organization
· Online and discuss the
popular communication technology
· Discuss the meaning of
computer technology
· Explain what is meant by
management technology
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Communication Technology
Communication technology provides access to
information and markets in business
organization. It connects people to various
marketing opportnoteies. Thus, communication
technologies help in bringing about
transformation in business environment. It causes
efficiency in transaction activities. The
computer-mediated communication technology
includes conferencing technologies and
messaging systems. This technology also
facilitates group work. Communication
technology provides a way in transforming
economies. It is also useful for evaluating
current information
Communication technology helps to:
· Develop
thinking skills
· Decrease
the need for memorisation of the facts
· Evaluates
current information
· Develop
accessing skills
Communication technologies also help in
training the workers. It promotes better
understanding and coordination. The popular
communication technologies are:
· Teleconference
· Telephone
· E-mail
· Fax
· Internet
3.1.1 Teleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live
exchange and mass articulation of information
among several persons and machines remote
from one another but linked by a
telecommunications system. Terms as audio
conferencing, telephone conferencing and
phone conferencing are also sometimes used to
refer to teleconferencing.
The telecommunications system may support the
teleconference by providing one or
more of the following audio, video, and/or
data services by one or more means, such as
telephone, computer, telegraph, teletype, radio,
and television.[1]
· Internet
teleconferencing
Internet teleconferencing includes internet
telephone conferencing,
videoconferencing, and Augmented Reality
conferencing.
Internet telephony involves conducting a
teleconference over the Internet or a
Wide Area Network. One key technology in this
area is Voice over Internet
Protocol (VOIP). Popular software for
personal use includes Skype, Google Talk,
Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.
· Video-conferencing
Video-conferencing enables face to face
interaction between the employees and
their boss. It enables effective
communication of ideas. Video-conferencing
motivates employees. Students and teachers
may also communicate through face
to face interaction. Video-conferencing
increases intimacy and promotes
interaction.
3.1.2 Telephone
Learning how to communicate well on the
telephone is one of the top priorities for many
businesses who need to use English at work.
Learning the common phrases that are used
on the telephone helps the user to know what
to expect. However, what users often need
most is practice, practice, and more
practice. While helpful, practicing a role-play using a
phone is not always the best way to improve
telephoning skills. Telephoning requires
special skills as there are a number of
difficulties that arise when telephoning that are
specific to telephoning. The first and
foremost difficulty is not being able to see the
person you are communicating with. This lack
of visual communication often makes
users, who can communicate quite successfully
in other situations, nervous and thereby
hinders their communicative abilities. Add to
this the typical hectic pace of business
communication, and you have a particularly
difficult situation. There is need for a feature
which includes a number of ingredients to
improve telephoning skills. Also specific
telephoning phrases, telephoning techniques
to improve confidence when telephoning
and telephoning practice exercises will also
help in the process.
3.1.3 E-mail
Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email
or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital
messages, designed primarily for human use.
E-mail systems are based on a store-andforward
model in which e-mail computer server systems
accept, forward, deliver and
store messages on behalf of users, who only
need to connect to the e-mail infrastructure,
typically an e-mail server, with a
network-enabled device (e.g., a personal computer) for
the duration of message submission or
retrieval. Rarely is e-mail transmitted directly
from one user's device to another's.
An electronic mail message consists of two
components, the message header, and the
message body, which is the email's content.
The message header contains control
information, including, minimally, an
originator's email address and one or more
recipient addresses. Usually additional
information is added, such as a subject header
field.
E-mail was widely accepted by the business
commnotey as the first broad electronic
communication medium and was the first
‘e-revolution’ in business communication. Email
is very simple to understand and like postal
mail, e-mail solves two basic problems
of communication: logistics and
synchronisation. Local area network based email is also
an emerging form of usage for business. It
not only allows the business user to download
mail when offline, it also enables the small
business user to have multiple users e-mail
ID's with just one e-mail connection
Exchanging emails has replaced the use of
phone and personal conversations. To a large
extent, e-mails have their advantages for
sure - they are fast, they can be sent 24/7
without disturbing anyone, they create an
information trail and they can help distribute
documents, graphics, mp3 files and so on.
Emails are not always an appropriate way to
communicate.
Here are 3 instances when email
is not the recommended communication tool in business.
o Do not use email to communicate information
that is top secret.
When it is so easy for
someone to forward and/or blind copying
another person on your
email, it is unwise to convey
information that would be
considered competitive intelligence.
o Do not use email to terminate and employee.
Yes, scary but true, some
employers resort to a pink email - as
opposed to a pink slip! If
you can't find the time, energy and
respect for the person,
then it says more about your leadership
that it does about their
reason for termination. Common courtesy
means using common sense
and commonly held ethical
beliefs to guide your
actions.
o Do not use email when conveying performance
criticisms.
Emotionally sensitive
information should not be conveyed via email. Body
language, tone of voice,
etc. can not be interpreted and you run the risk of
people misunderstanding a
message due to the coldness of an email.
Performance conversations
should happen in person whenever
possible.
3.1.4 Fax
Fax (short for facsimile, from Latin fac
simile, "make similar", i.e. "make a copy") is a
telecommunications technology used to
transfer copies (facsimiles) of documents,
especially using affordable devices operating
over the telephone network. The word
telefax, short for telefacsimile, for
"make a copy at a distance", is also used as a
synonym. Although fax is not an acronym, it
is often written as “FAX”. The device is
also known as a telecopier in certain
industries. When sending documents to people at
long distances, faxes have a distinct
advantage over postal mail in that the delivery is
nearly instantaneous, yet its disadvantages
in quality have relegated it to a position
beneath email as the prevailing form of electronic
document transfer
Although devices for transmitting printed
documents electrically have existed, in various
forms, since the 19th century, modern fax
machines became feasible only in the
mid-1970s as the sophistication increased and
cost of the three underlying technologies
dropped. Digital fax machines first became
popular in Japan, where they had a clear
advantage over competing technologies like
the teleprinter, since at the time (before the
development of easy-to-use input method
editors) it was faster to handwrite than to type
the characters. Over time, faxing gradually
became affordable, and by the mid-1980s, fax
machines were very popular around the world.
Although many businesses still maintain some
kind of fax capability, the technology has
faced increasing competition from
Internet-based systems. However, fax machines still
retain some advantages, particularly in the
transmission of sensitive material which, due
to mandates like Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA,
cannot be sent over the Internet
unencrypted. In some countries, because
electronic signatures on contracts are not
recognized by law while faxed contracts with
copies of signatures are, fax machines
enjoy continuing support in business.
In many corporate environments, standalone
fax machines have been replaced by "fax
servers" and other computerized systems
capable of receiving and storing incoming faxes
electronically, and then routing them to
users on paper or via an email (which may be
secured). Such systems have the advantage of
reducing costs by eliminating unnecessary
printouts and reducing the number of inbound
analog phone lines needed by an office.
3.1.5 Internet
The Internet is a global system of
interconnected computer networks that use the
standardized Internet Protocol Suite
(TCP/IP). It is a network of networks that consists of
millions of private and public, academic,
business, and government networks of local to
global scope that are linked by copper wires,
fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and
other technologies.
The Internet carries a vast array of
information resources and services, most notably the
inter-linked hypertext documents of the World
Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure
to support electronic mail, in addition to
popular services such as online chat, file transfer
and file sharing, online gaming, and Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) person-toperson
communication via voice and video.
The origins of the Internet reach back to the
1960s when the Noteed States funded
research projects of its military agencies to
build robust, fault-tolerant and distributed
computer networks. This research and a period
of civilian funding of a new U.S.
backbone by the National Science Foundation
spawned worldwide participation in the
development of new networking technologies
and led to the commercialization of an
international network in the mid 1990s, and
resulted in the following popularization of
countless applications in virtually every
aspect of modern human life. By 2009, an
estimated quarter of Earth's population uses
the services of the Internet
The Internet already has become a pervasive
force in our society, and projections are that
it will continue to become even more so in
the future. Every business organization needs
to be sure adequate use of the rich resources
found on the Internet for business
communication.
3.2 Computer Technology
Computer technology promotes independence and
self-assessment. It stimulates the
interest of the students. The various
programs in the system help students in self assessment.
Word processor programs help students in organizing
letters. Interactive
computers also help students with their
pronunciation. Computer technology assists
people in learning languages. Teachers may
re-evaluate their teaching methods with the
help of computers. Teachers may also
effectively use computer technology to enhance
their teaching skills. Computer technology
assists people with learning disabilities. The
disabled people may use graphics software and
word processor to express themselves.
Computers help students to improve their
spellings. Computer technologies also benefit
people with speech disability. Students may
film clips of their speech and replay them.
Computer technology assists them in practicing
their speech skills.
3.3 Management Technology
Management technology protects the sensitive
corporate information. Management
technologies offer solutions to many IT
problems. It also reduces IT costs. An effective
management technology should provide the
following benefits:
· Trouble
shooting and recovery: It increases the efficiency of IT staff.
· Non
volatile storage: It survives system rebuilds.
· Proactive
alerting: It decreases downtime.
· Tamper
resistant agents: It prevents users from disturbing the software.
An effective management technology helps
technicians in obtaining accurate inventory
information. This technology improves asset
management and reduces desk-side visits.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Technology is an ever dynamic field which
determines the pace of activities in the world.
This shows that a business organization must
be ever prepare to synchronizes itself into
the tunes of technology. Communication
technology, though might be costly, makes
business to grow at a faster rate
5.0 SUMMARY
In this note, we discussed some of
communication technologies that are presently
available for business organization. Computer
technology and management technology
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