Transcript Communications in Admin

Administration and IT (National 3, National 4 and National 5)
Communication in Administration
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

HANDLING INFORMATION in a business involves
activities which try to make sure that workers and
customers have the information that that they need.

Handling information activities involve the following
types of work.
COLLECT
(gather
information)
◦ COLLECTING INFORMATION
◦ PROCESSING INFORMATION
◦ COMMUNICATING INFORMATION
PROCESS
(do something
useful with the
information)

Handling information is important as it helps a
business to SURVIVE by helping everyone involved
with it to be able to do the following.
COMMUNICATE
(pass the
information on to
people who need
it)
◦ KNOW WHAT THE BUSINESS IS DOING
◦ GET THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THEIR JOB
◦ BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

In most modern businesses, handling
information is usually involves the use of
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT).

Common pieces of IT HARDWARE and
SOFTWARE that are used to help handle
information can be seen below.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
INTRANET (or NETWORK)
THE INTERNET
ELECTRONIC DIARY
E-MAIL
DESK TOP PUBLISHING
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Intranet (or Internal Network)

A NETWORK is a series of computers that are
connected together to collect and
communicate information and also share
software and hardware.

An INTRANET is a NETWORK that is only
accessed and used WITHIN a business.

BENEFITS from using an Intranet include:
◦ QUICKER COMMUNICATION
◦ BETTER COLLABORATION
◦ LOWER IT COSTS

However, if there are any problems with an
intranet then ALL staff will be prevented from
working.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
The Internet

The INTERNET is a WORLDWIDE NETWORK
made up of large, powerful computer systems
(known as SERVERS).

Connection to the INTERNET requires the
following IT hardware and software.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

CONNECTION DEVICE
BROWSER SOFTWARE
COMMUNICATION LINK
MODEM
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP)
As long as a user has all of the required IT for
an Internet connection, they can join this
network from anywhere in the world.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
The World Wide Web (or WWW or the Web)

The World Wide Web is a service on the Internet which
stores millions of MULTIMEDIA documents (known as
WEB PAGES).

A group of connected and linked web pages is known as a
WEB SITE.

People are keen to use access the Internet so that they
can use web pages for the following reasons.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

MULTIMEDIA IS INTERESTING
INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON ANY TOPIC
INFORMATION IS USUALLY UP TO DATE
AVAILABLE 24/7
INFORMATION CAN BE DOWNLOADED
INFORMATION CAN BE COPIED
Some business websites also have E- COMMERCE
features to allow people to find out about products and
buy them.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Managing Information from the Web

Internet users can find web pages with
specific information that they want to
through any of the following methods.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR (URL)
HYPERLINK
SEARCH ENGINE
HISTORY
FAVOURITES
Users should check that web pages they use
are RELIABLE and RELEVANT to prevent the
following problems.
◦
◦
◦
◦
POOR WORK FROM POOR INFORMATION
INFORMATION THEFT
FRAUD
VIRUSES
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Electronic Diary (or E-Diary)

An ELECTRONIC DIARY is a piece of IT
software which can be used to manage
APPOINTMENTS.

The main BENEFITS from using an e-diary are:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
REMINDERS
RECURRENCES
SHARED ACCESS
INVITES
EASE OF EDITING
USE OF FIND FUNCTIONS
SUMMARY PRINTOUTS
SECURITY
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Electronic Mail (or E-Mail)

E-MAIL software (or MAILBOX) allows messages to
be sent between linked computer systems through
the use of E-MAIL ADDRESSES.

E-mail messages can contain any mixture of text,
graphics and ATTACHMENTS.

The main BENEFITS from using an e-mail are:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

LOW COSTS
SPEED OF COMMUNICATION
FLEXIBILITY OF ATTACHMENTS
FORWARDING and REPLY FEATURES
ADDRESS BOOKS and DISTRIBUTION LISTS
URGENT, DELIVERY and READ MARKERS
SIGNATURES
OUT OF OFFICE REPLIES
ORGANISED and SECURE STORAGE
E-mail can also have the following DRAWBACKS.
◦ SPAM and PHISHING
◦ VIRUSES
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Desk Top Publishing (DTP) Software

Desk top publishing (DTP) software is used
to create high quality text and graphic
based documents.

The main BENEFITS from using DTP are:
◦
◦
◦
◦
EDITING FEATURES
FORMATTING FEATURES
USE OF COMPLEX LAYOUTS
USE OF TABLES
◦ USE OF TEMPLATES
◦ CORPORATE IMAGE
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Presentation Software

Presentation software is used to create
MULTIMEDIA “slideshows” for an
audience.

The main BENEFITS from using
presentation software are:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
INTERESTING MULTIMEDIA
INTERESTING DESIGN TEMPLATES
CLARITY - USE OF DATA PROJECTORS
CLARITY - HANDOUTS
EASE OF EDITING – MASTER SLIDES
EASE OF EDITING – IMPORTING
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd
Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies are new pieces of IT
hardware and software that have become available
for collecting and communicating information.
Examples include:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
INTERNET TELEPHONY
VIDEOCONFERENCE
SMART PHONES
BLOGS
WIKIS
PODCASTS
VIDEO HOSTING
INSTANT MESSAGING
CHAT
FORUMS
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
CLOUD COMPUTING
SCREEN CASTING
ONLINE SURVEYS
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

This is the process of sending a voice
conversation over the internet or intranet.

Advantages are that the calls are free so long
distance calls can be made without the normal
high cost.

Not as reliable as normal phone conversation
(power cuts can affect it) and it is also difficult to
make emergency calls due to it being difficult to
locate people using this service.

Quality is also decreased if there is any lag in the
line (this shows by the persons voice disappearing
for spells during the conversation)

Examples include SkyPE.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Videoconferencing is the 2 way
communication of pictures and
sound in real time (via screens,
cameras and microphones).

This can be completed cheaply
and easily over an intranet or
the Internet and so can save a
business the cost and time of
workers having to travel to
some events.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Smart phones are basically small portable
computers which allow their user to:
◦ MAKE PHONE CALLS
◦ VIDEOCONFERENCE
◦ BROWSE THE INTERNET
◦ DOWNLOAD FILES
◦ CAPTURE AND USE MEDIA (eg PHOTOS)
◦ ACCESS E-MAIL
◦ CREATE AND EDIT DOCUMENTS
◦ ACCESS SOCIAL MEDIA

Smart phones can also be customised by
downloading and using software
applications (or APPS).
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Special website which is basically an online
diary or news story.

Can host a number of different files (sound,
video and images) and allow other people
to comment on the posts.

Users can subscribe to a blog and receive
the latest posts on their desktop.

Examples of sites include Blogger.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

A special type of website that allows
users to add to or edit information
already on the site.

Main example is the online
encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Drawback is that since anyone can edit
a page articles can be subject to
vandalism.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

A podcast is usually an audio file that can
be listened to through a suitable piece of
IT hardware (eg MP3 player) in order to
communicate information.

Different podcasts are available on all
sorts of topics from education to
entertainment.

Podcast files are usually made available
via a DOWNLOAD from a web site (eg
iTunes) – this allows them to be used to
reach a wide range of people cheaply
and at a time that suits them.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Special websites that allow users to
share their digital videos and
pictures.

Can allow users to store and access
videos for information (eg learning
how to do something) or advertising
the business to a large audience.

Examples of this would include
YouTube.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Instant Messaging allows users to start a
new PRIVATE “live” text based chat with one
or more people of their choice.

This requires an intranet or Internet
connection.

As well as sending text messages, some of
these programs also allow users to use
attachments, video and voice messaging.

Examples include Windows Live Messenger
BBM, and Yahoo Messenger.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Chat facilities (or CHAT ROOMS) allow
Internet users to join and contribute to a
“live” PUBLIC discussion about a topic.

Chat conversations appear as a series of
constantly updated text based messages
from users.

To use a chat room, a user will have to
create an account and an ID and then go to
the chat room that has the conversation
that they are interested in joining.

Since anyone can create a chat account by
giving details which may or may not be true,
it’s important that users follow given rules
and guidelines that will help them use chat
rooms safely.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Forums are Internet based
information and discussion groups
about specific topics.

They differ from chat rooms in that
they are not REAL-TIME.

Users can usually look at the
information in a forum but to
contribute to it they will normally
have to create an account and ID for
it.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

SOCIAL MEDIA refers to Internet based IT
which allows “SOCIETIES" of people to link
up and communicate with each other – eg
blogs, wikis, podcasts, video sharing, instant
messaging, chat rooms and forums.

A SOCIAL NETWORK PLATFORM (eg
Facebook) lets a user create an account and
ID that will allow them to combine the use
of several pieces of social media IT in the
one place.

Businesses will often have their own social
network platform accounts in order to
encourage instant two-way communication
with staff and customers, and for
advertising.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Cloud computing services allow users to store
their applications and files in a secure area of
the Internet.

These applications and files can then be easily
kept up to date in this single location and
accessed by users from anywhere that has an
Internet connection.

Cloud computing saves businesses the time
and effort of downloading, installing and
keeping software and files up-to-date in
multiple locations.

It also provides convenience for users as they
can access cloud resources from any device
that can be connected to the Internet rather
than specific pieces of hardware alone.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Screen casting software is used to make
a video file recording of screen
movements and instructions that are
carried out in a piece of software.

This can be helpful for users who are
creating presentations or instructional
web pages that need an actual
demonstration of how to use IT
software.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

Online survey tools make it easy to
create questionnaires and polls on
websites, social media platform,
intranet, etc.

These surveys can be useful for
gathering customer service information
for a business in order to help it
improve.

They are often seen to be better than
manual surveys because they can
cheaply and conveniently reach a wide
audience and they also calculate the
questionnaire results quickly and
automatically.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd

A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (VLE)
is an intranet or Internet based system that
provides educational access to courses,
grades, assessments, and other class tools
(eg podcasts).

It also provides a social space where
students and teacher can interact through
newsgroups, chat, instant messaging, video
conference or screen casting.

Virtual learning environments are designed
to provide users with flexibility in their
education and better learning.

For businesses, a VLE is useful because it
can reduce the amount of time and money
spent providing courses to staff.
N 4/5 Admin and IT – 3: Communication in Administrators © BEST Ltd