Outcome 4

The Internet and Office

Technologies

• Advertise their products to reach potential customers

• Advertise vacant positions to reach potential applicants

• Find out about competitors’ products, prices and special offers

Organisations use the Internet to

• Find out about developments eg new machinery to increase productivity

• To send e-mails to customers or suppliers

• Retrieving up-to-date information from anywhere at any time

• Set up discussion groups to allow people with a common interest to communicate with each other

• Connection may be slower at certain times of the day

• Equipment failure may be experienced

• Length of time to download information can be frustrating

• Finding information can take a long time even with search engines

• No guarantee information is of good quality and up-to-date

• Provides a vast amount of information on practically any subject

• Many organisations use a web site to access more customers than they could otherwise have

• Convenient access from home, office and on the move

• Finding what you want is speeded up by using search engines eg Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves

• The quality of information is better on the more reputable sits

• Sound and graphics can be included with the information

• Searching for information online can be costly

• Telephone calls may not be possible while on Internet unless you have broadband

• Second telephone may be needed at home

• Staff need good training

• Cost of designing and maintaining web page can be expensive

• Difficult to monitor staff use of internet

• How does a fax machine work?

• The paper-based information is scanned by the machine

• Information is converted into code

• The encoded data is sent over the telephone lines to its destination

• On arrival at the recipient’s fax machine the data is decoded

• An exact paper copy of the original is printed

• Cheap and easy to use

• Does not need expensive cabling installed

• Text and graphics can be transmitted

• Information is received almost immediately

• Cost is the same as a telephone call

• Name, title, phone no of sender

• Fax no of receiving machine

• Name and details of person receiving fax

• Date & no of pages being sent

This should be sent as the first page of each fax and should include:

• Prepare a Fax Cover Sheet

• Place the document to be sent in the fax machine (correct way up)

• Enter the recipient’s fax number

• Press the start button to send the fax

• Equipment error eg paper jam or no toner

• Problems contacting the destination fax machine eg number engaged, machine switched off

• Anyone can see and read the fax – confidential information must not be sent by fax

• Provides a paper copy

• Can be received without anyone being present

• Most companies have them

• Can send/receive hand-written or keyed data and drawings

• Most computers have fax software already installed

• Must make sure that there is a good supply of paper, toner

• Fax machine may be engaged so re-dialling may be necessary

• Quality of reproduction may be poor especially drawings

• E-mail is a form of electronic conversation

• Popular method for internal and external business use

• Allows messages to be sent and received from computers

• Users are given own e-mail address

• Efficient way of sending and receiving information particularly using distribution lists

• You can create and send messages and mark as urgent

• Receive and read messages

• Reply to messages

• Send documents as an attachment

• Store messages

• Forward messages you receive to other people

• Set up automatic reply messages eg ‘out of office’

• Set up distribution lists so that the same message is sent to multiple recipients, saving time and money

• Delivery is quick

• Replies can be sent immediately

• E-mails can be read wherever there is a computer

• Messages can be sent at any time

• Same e-mail message can be copied to many people

• E-mailing is cheaper than telephoning

• For customers requesting information

• Requests for catalogues, product information

• Requests for job application forms

• Placing orders with suppliers

• Requests for quotes from suppliers

• Getting fast feedback on a document attachment

Each user must have an address where all messages will be sent

User name

The user name and domainname are separated by @

Domain name

The last part indicates thetype of organisation

• Messages can be sent to the wrong person

• Equipment can fail

• Messages can be deleted accidentally

• File attachments can take time to download

• Staff may require training on how to use an e-mail system

• SPAM or junk mail can contain viruses which bring down networks

• People can choose to ignore e-mails holding up workflow

• Sending and receiving an e-mail is much quicker than traditional mail

• Most of the features of e-mail are easy to use and understand

• Now accessible while ‘on the move’ as you can receive e-mails on mobile phones

• Data can be sent throughout the world for the cost of a local telephone call

• Not every business has an e-mail address

• Problems can arise if your ISP is not working

• If an attachment was prepared using different software you may not be able open it

• Some people still prefer to receive paper copies

• The nature of the wording on e-mails means they can be misunderstood

• Equipment available – both the sender and receiver must have the equipment available to communicate electronically

• Ability of employees to use the equipment – training will be needed

• Type of information being searched for – sending a fax or e-mail to a competitor about their product or prices is unlikely to receive a reply – visiting their web site may however help

The choice of method depends on:

• Also known as chat rooms

• Allows users to communicate in real time

• It is an electronic conversation between multiple users on-line

• Has the disadvantage of not knowing if a fellow users is really who they make out to be ie security concerns

Instant Messaging

Networks

What are Networks?

• a series of computers link together using the telephone network

• allows for the sharing of software, data files and printers

• the computers are run by a ‘server’ which is a much more powerful computer than those it serves

• can be local area networks (LANs) eg the GSN you use

• can be wide area networks (WANs) eg UK wide

Advantages of Networks

• sharing software and printers means costs can be reduced

• data files can be accessed by multiple users at the same time

• e-mailing across the network is faster and more efficient

• security measures can be put in place to limit access to the network itself and to files within the network

• files are easier backed up as all the data is stored on the server

• management of the system is done centrally giving greater control

Disadvantages of Networks

• initial set up costs can be high

• management of the network requires high level knowledge

• the whole network can fail when the server goes down

• viruses can spread quickly through the network so constant upgrading of anti-virus software is essential

• expensive security measures are required to prevent ‘hacking’

Legislation

The laws that cover the use of information and technology are:

• The Data Protection Act 1998

• The Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988

• The Computer Misuse Act 1990

The Data Protection Act 1998

• sets out how personal information is collected, used, stored and destroyed

• information must be collected fairly and honestly

• must only be used for the original purpose it was collected

• must be kept up-to-date and accurate

• individuals must have the right to have corrections made

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

• controls the copying of ‘protected’ material

• protected material is books, newspapers, music and computer programs

• the owner’s permission must be sought when copying large proportions of a writer’s work

• otherwise, a fee is paid to the Copyright Licensing Agency

• any work bearing the © symbol means you are not free to copy it

C

The Computer Misuse Act 1990

• designed to prevent unauthorized access to computer systems ie hacking

• also covers using computers to commit a crime, so you are not permitted to:

• break through password protected files

• make unauthorized changes to computer material

• illegally copy software