COMMUNICATING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Communicating through technology

Challenges to the organization Made by New Technologies

Defining Email

Email refers to messages sent over computers and includes everything from causal notes to friends to multimedia presentations sent across the world.

Electronic mail (email) lets you send a message to a person without your making direct contact or knowledge where the person is located. Subscribers to electronic mail services are called users, and as a user, you can access messages on your system from your home, office, hotel, or anywhere you happen to be.

Several basic components make up email systems, including:

            1. Users

            2. Messages

            3. Senders’ and Recipients’ Addresses

            4. Protocols

            5. Messaging Transports

            6. Gateways

            7. Value-added Networks

            8. Directory Systems

1. Users

Users are often people, but users can also be other computer application programs.

2. Message

A message is the actual information send by one user to another.

3. Addresses

Part of the email information included in a message is the addresses of both sender and receiver, which include their unique identification codes along with another identifier such as the email systems, the mailbox number, or the organization.

4. Protocol

Each email system uses a protocol that describes the structure of the message, generally with a header of TO; FROM and SUBJECT; followed by the body, which may include text, images, graphics, video and audio.

5. Message Transport

The software that moves the message from one system to another in called the transport.

6. Gateways

If the message sent from one system must get to a user on another system, it must pass through a gateway to be delivered. A gateway is an application program that translates between two protocols of different email system.

7. Valued-added Networks (VANs)

Valued-added Networks (VANs) are public telecommunication companies, such as AT&T or PTCL, that handle email services to users for a fee.

8. Directory Systems

As a user, you can access directory that contains names, addresses, and sometimes other information about each user to find the email address you need to send a message.

Using email:

With email, you can reach individuals, groups, or other computers anywhere in the world to share information, files of data, spreadsheets, videos, music and anything else that can be sorted on a computer. Email can save your time in printing, copying and distributing your message. You can use email to send and receive faxes and telexes. Email is also useful in your personal communications.

Writing conventions for email are still developing, but one character is its being informal. The traditional conventions of writing are not followed in email. Capitalization can vary from one email user to another; all punctuation and capitalization except for periods at the ends of sentences are omitted. The immediacy and perceived informality of email compose rambling messages.

Understanding how Email Works

To send an email message, you do the following:

Log on.

This means connecting to a computer, network, or email program. It requires the user’s name and a password. Choose the receivers of your message. For this step, you need to know the email addresses of your recipients. Compose the message and instruct the program to send the message.

Email offers speed, low cost, better access to other employees, portability, and convenience (not just overcoming time-zone problems but carrying a message to many receivers at a time). It’s best for communicating brief, non complex information that is time sensitive, but its effectiveness depends on user skills. Because the turn around time can be quite fast, email tends to be more conversational than traditional paper-based media. 

Email Etiquettes:

Planning

Be clear, concise, and polite when you send an email message. Plan your email like letters and memos.

•        Decide on the purpose

•        Decide on the content

•        Write all the ideas in point form

•        Put these ideas into sequence appropriate to the purpose

Advantages and Disadvantages of Email

Advantages	Disadvantages
Email is a faster and more efficient channel than regular mail (sometimes referred to as snail mail). Most messages reach anywhere in the world within minutes of being sent.	It can be difficult to distinguish between casual and formal messages because of their similar layout
It can be sent at any convenient time	There may be a time lag if the receiver does not read his email for a few days
It can be sent to different receivers at the same time	The system is inaccessible to those who are computer illiterate or not online.
Email can be stored and sent at off-peak telephone rates	Its contents may reappear later in a variety of printed forms.
It saves paper	It lacks nonverbal communication cues to add meaning.
A message can be written and edited quickly by several people before it is sent.	It can be overused.

Elements of a Good Online Writing Style

Key element	Purpose	Strategies
Clarity	To communicate clearly	Create single-subject messages whenever possible. Open the email message with a sentence that either: connects it to previous correspondence, or identifies its purpose, or reflects an awareness of the reader’s needs. Focus on the subject and purpose. Show the reader how the content affects them. Present new ideas clearly Arrange ideas in a logical sequence

Key element	Purpose	Strategies
Readability	To make information accessible	Use about 15 to 20 words per sentence. Limit each sentence to one idea. Use complex sentences of 25 to 35 words sparingly as they require a high level of reading skill. Vary the length of sentences to add rhythm and interest to your writing. Use the active voice. Avoid slang. Remove ambiguous and unnecessary words Avoid technical terms unfamiliar to the reader.

Key element	Purpose	Strategies
Positive language	To create a positive impression	Use direct and courteous language Choose positive rather than negative words.
Punctuation	To keep the meaning clear	Start a sentence with a capital and end with a full stop. Check that the sentence is not too long. Separate ideas by using paragraphs. In general, use more full stops than commas.
Tone	To establish the communication climate	Avoid emotional responses (called ‘flaming’ in ITs). Use a courteous and tactful tone. Use an appropriate level of formality.

Faxes   

A facsimile machine scans a printed page, converts it to a signal, and transmits the signal over a telephone line to a receiving fax machine. Although faxes have been available for many years, until recently they were slow and expensive.

The oldest type of fax machine had to be connected to a machine of the same type, and the transmission took several minutes. Today’s fax machines do not require the same kind of machine at the receiving end, and they can transmit a page in less than 1 minute. The newest fax machines use digital transmission, which makes it possible to use a computer program as a receiver. These new faxes are also much faster.

The oldest type of fax machine had to be connected to a machine of the same type, and the transmission took several minutes. Today’s fax machines do not require the same kind of machine at the receiving end, and they can transmit a page in less than 1 minute. The newest fax machines use digital transmission, which makes it possible to use a computer program as a receiver. These new faxes are also much faster.

Voice Mail

Voice mail records messages on a computer disk for later retrieval by the receiver. When an incoming call is not answered, the system responds by telling the caller how to leave a message or how to reach someone else. The receiver of the call can then either listen to the machine upon returning to the office or access the message via telephone. This process eliminates the problem of telephone tag, which can be so frustrating.

Voice mail is useful because:

•        It replaces short memos and phone calls that need no response

•        It is most effective for short, unambiguous messages

•        It solves time-zone difficulties

•        It reduces a substantial amount of interoffice paperwork.

•        It is a powerful tool when you need to communicate your emotion or tone

•        It is especially useful for goodwill and other positive messages

Other Communication Technologies

Groupware

Groupware allows several people to use software at the same time to create documents, keep track of projects, route messages, and manage deadlines. Groupware enables a supervisor to manage work flow via individual computers instead of physically moving form place to place or having face-to-face meetings.

CD-ROM database 

Compact Disk – Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) has been available for several years and is becoming more popular. It is powerful tool for putting masses of information in a form that is easy to digest. Some kinds of information typically found on CD-ROMs are encyclopedias, dictionaries, telephone directories, and articles and abstracts on various subjects. A CD-ROM can store more than 100,000 pages of text. It will continue to grow. 

Teleconferencing

It is a rapidly developing technology that will eventually change the way companies do business. Teleconferencing is the best for informational meetings, ineffective for negotiation and efficient alternative to a face-to-face meeting. It discourages the “secondary” conversations, helps a participant to focus on a topic but prevents participants from sharing valuable information.

Videotape

Videotape is often effective for getting a motivational message out to a large number of people. By communicating nonverbal cues, it can strengthen the sender’s image of sincerity and trustworthiness; however, it offers no opportunity for immediate feedback.

Computer Conferencing

Computer conferencing allows users to meet and collaborate in real time while viewing and sharing documents electronically. It offers democracy because more attention is focused on ideas than on who communicates them. But overemphasizing a message (to the neglect of the person communicating it) can threaten corporate culture, which needs a richer medium. 

Editing an Online Document

After having written the electronic message, you must edit it for certain reasons. Ask yourself the following questions.

Have I considered the receivers’?

•        Viewpoint?

•        Experience?

•        Knowledge?

•        Need?

•        Position in the company?

•        Cultural differences?

•        Technology?

Have I presented? 

•         A clear purpose statement?

•         A logical order of information?

•         An appropriate, concise and complete message?

•         A clear, readable writing style?

•         Positive language?

•         Paragraphs focused on the ideas?

•         A courteous and confident tone?

•         Carefully edited work, used spellchecker and grammar checker

Have I Met?

  

•        The reader’s need to understand the information?

•        The document’s purpose

•        The writer’s need to convey particular information?