Outcome 4 The Internet and Office Technologies
Dec 25, 2015
• 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
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