Chapter 3

Help you understand and compare different types of facilities found in:◦ Fax◦ Email◦ Bulletin (Discussion Boards)◦ Video Conferencing◦ Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

There are many way of communicating with people.

Each method has different facilities which make it appropriate for different types of communication.

This presentation will look at some of these methods and will help you understand when to it is appropriate to use it.

A fax machine looks very much like a printer and performs similar actions…

The main difference is that a fax machine can send a document to another fax machine.

Fax machines are an effective device for sending data to another location almost instantly.

Fax machines tend to be found in offices in a location which is easily accessible to those people who need to use it.

This means that anyone can access the receiving document as it is being printed.

Documents also tend stored in memory – so even if you think the document has been printed…it can be reprinted!

Sending draft copies of a document to another department.

Sending quick hand drawn notes or drawings to other people.

There is a nice little webpage with some more examples here.

Send and receive two-dimensional documents.

Send documents to lots of different fax machines.◦ This is done by dialling one machine

and sending, then dialling the next and sending…

Documents are received automatically.

Produce a delivery report for all faxes received over a period of time.

Email is the most popular form of communication in developed countries.

They have a large number of facilities including sending different attachments both as downloadable content and as ‘onscreen’ attachments.

You can also send emails to multiple recipients very quickly.

Another big bonus is that you can access emails wherever you are providing you have access to the internet.

Emails also have the added advantage being that they can be sent fairly securely using encryption algorithms.

You can also have user access rights by requiring users to log into their email account using a username and password.

The popularity of emails is also increasing because of laptops and mobile phones.

People are now able to access their emails ‘on the go’.

Unfortunately…in certain respects…email has caused us a whole load of problems with advertising.

Because it is very cost effective to send emails…companies flood our inboxes with advertising emails.

Some companies SPAM email boxes with junk mail.

In fact…there is so much SPAM floating through the internet it now equates to 90% of all the email we receive!

Advertising (which can be tailored to user’s spending habits).

Sending messages to family, friends and work.

Sending documents to family, friends and different organisations.

Email lists to send out different things to different people…like a teacher reminding his students that there is a test on all of this stuff coming up!

Advertising (which can be tailored to user’s spending habits).

Sending messages to family, friends and work.

Sending documents to family, friends and different organisations.

Email lists to send out different things to different people…like a teacher reminding his students that there is a test on all of this stuff coming up!

Forward received messages.

Encrypt emails to increase security.

Provide secure access to emails.

These are used to allow people to discuss topics that are of interest to them.

A fantastic example of a bulletin board is…DUH DUH DUH!!!

They are structured similar to this:

Talk about areas of interest:◦Gaming◦Political issues◦Educational issues◦Etc

Users can:◦ Post replies to current threads

◦ Create new threads

◦ Read posted messages

◦ Search facilities to find topical threads

◦ Email updates to alert you to a change in a thread you have subscribed to

◦ Look at member profiles

These are used to allow people to communicate with both visual images and sound.

Typical uses include: Meetings can take place

via this means which reduces transport costs.

Social chats in lieu of telephone calls.

Some schools make use of them to teach students a subject that the school can’t provide due to low numbers.

Can include lots of participants.

Shared whiteboards allow ideas to be expressed visually.

Presentations can be shared across video streams.

Some conferencing applications allow you to control the camera.

These applications work in a similar way to emails but with a few exceptions.

In order for them to work you must have at least two participants as messages are sent instantly.

Some IRC applications do allow messages to be sent when another participant is not present but they will only receive the message when they log into the service.

Two or more people can communicate using text or images.

Logs of conversation can be kept.

Sending files within a conversation.

Use of emotions to help convey meaning.

Blocking unwanted users.

Setting up a status (online, busy, away, etc).

Some IRC applications also allow you to have video conferencing.

Give two disadvantages of fax.

Give three reasons why email should be used instead of fax.

Describe the following in terms of bulletin boards:◦ Discussion forum◦ Thread◦ Post

Identify two facilities of video conferencing that are not available in teleconferencing (Hint: you need to research teleconferencing).

If you wanted to sent the same message to multiple receipts which method would you use? Fax or email? Justify your answer.

Describe how IRC could be used by a teacher if s/he was away from their lesson because their car broke down and they live too far away to get a taxi!