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E-mail is software that allows users, via their computer keyboards, to create, send, and receive messages and files to or from anywhere in the world. Most e-mail systems let the user do other sophisticated tasks such as filter, prioritize, or file messages; forward copies of messages to other users; create and save drafts of messages; send \copies\and request automatic confirmation of the delivery of a message. E-mail is very popular because it is easy to use, offers fast delivery, and is inexpensive. Examples of e-mail software are Eudora, Lotus Notes, and Microsoft Outlook. Voice Mail.
Voice mail is a sophisticated telephone answering machine. It digitizes incoming voice messages and stores them on disk. When the recipient is ready to listen, the message is converted from its digitized version back to audio, or sound. Recipients may save messages for future use, delete them, or forward them to other people. Facsimile.
A facsimile or facsimile transmission machine (FAX) scans a document containing both text and graphics and sends it as electronic signals over ordinary telephone lines to a receiving fax machine. This receiving fax recreates the image on paper. A fax can also scan and send a document to a fax modem (circuit board) inside a remote computer. The fax can then be displayed on the computer screen and stored or printed out by the computer's printer.
Desktop Videoconferencing
Desktop videoconferencing is one of the fastest growing forms of videoconferencing. ? Desktop videoconferencing requires a network and a desktop computer with special application software (e.g., CUSeeMe) as well as a small camera installed on top of the monitor. Images of a computer user from the desktop computer are captured and sent across the network to the other computers and users that are participating in the conference. This type of videoconferencing simulates face-to-face meetings of individuals. Electronic Collaboration
Electronic collaboration is made possible through electronic meeting and
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collaborative work systems and teleconferencing. Electronic meeting and collaborative work systems allow teams of coworkers to use networks of microcomputers to share information, update schedules and plans, and cooperate on projects regardless of geographic distance. Special software called groupware is needed to allow two or more people to edit or otherwise work on the same files simultaneously.
Teleconferencing is also known as videoconferencing. As was mentioned in the discussion of desktop videoconferencing earlier, this technology allows people in multiple locations to interact and work collaboratively using real-time sound and images. Full teleconferencing, as compared to the desktop version, requires special-purpose meeting rooms with cameras, video display monitors, and audio microphones and speakers.
Telecommuting and Collaborative Systems.
Telecommuters perform some or all of their work at home instead of traveling to an office each day,usually with the aid of office automation systems, including those that allow collaborative work or meetings. A microcomputer, a modem, software that allows the sending and receiving of work, and an ordinary telephone line are the tools that make this possible.
High-tech meeting rooms help companies make more effective presentations. At some conference halls, like this one at the Chinzan-so Four Seasons Hotel in Toyko, small video screens are built into the table tops.
Telecommuting is gaining in popularity in part due to the continuing increase in population, which creates traffic congestion, promotes high energy consumption, and causes more air pollution. Telecommuting can help reduce these problems. Telecommuting can also take advantage of the skills of homebound people with physical limitations.
Studies have found that telecommuting programs can boost employee morale and productivity among those who work from home. It is necessary to maintain a collaborative work environment, however, through the use of technology and general employee management practices, so that neither on-site employees nor telecommuters
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