Communication Technologies

Communication technology changed the way people and organization work. And the way commerce is conducted across organizational boundaries. Internet technologies has also dissolved boundaries and connected organizations of all sizes. In changing the boundary, the “web work style” of using the digital tools and processes enabled both organizations and individuals to redefine their roles. The internet allows a company to focus far more than in the past by changing which employees work within the walls and which work outside in an adjunct, partnering role. The internet makes it possible to deal better with unpredictable demand.

Telephone: This was the major technological tool used for communication. The invention of telephone was radical advancement in science which allowed to people across distance to communicate with each other. Even to this day, telephone, both wire and also wireless is the most popular methods of communication. It is the root technology used in other tools of communication such as the internet.

INTRANET: The organizations are making extensive use of private organization networks (VPN’s), using internet protocols, network connections to share information securely and communicate in a safe and secure mode. Increasingly, intranets are being used to deliver tools and applications, e.g., collaboration (to facilitate working in groups and teleconferencing) or sophisticated corporate directories, sales and CRM tools, project management etc., to advance productivity these are also being used as culture change platforms such as large numbers of employees discussing key issues in an online forums could lead to new ideas. Wal-Mart, Toyota, and IBM are some the organization making use of this technology. The use of this technology helps the organization to develop an effective internal communication. Safety from intruders is assured and the hacker can not easily access the corporate information as there are different layers of security.
E-mail is a technological channel which can be used by one individual to communicate with many people at one time. It is becoming increasingly becoming popular as it is easy and cheaper way of communication.

The use of phone conference is also a very popular today. Many companies have corporate meeting; given the rising cost of travel; face to face is not always accessible. In order to communicate as a group the use of phone conference is very helpful. The use of video conference is also on the rise, as this helps to know who you are speaking to.
Fax is also another communication tool which allows sending and receiving pages of data with in matter of seconds.

Company Example

Web work style has changed business process at Microsoft. It has replaced paper processes with collaborative digital processes thus cutting weeks of budgeting and other operational processes. Groups of people are using electronic tools to act almost as fast as a single person could act, but with the insights of the entire team. Highly motivated teams are getting the benefit of everyone’s thinking. With faster access to information about sales, partner activities, and, most important they are able to react faster to problems and opportunities of their customers.

Link: http://www.microsoft.com/