Why Managers Must Understand Networking and Collaboration Tools

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Why Managers Must Understand Networking and
Collaboration Tools

• Organizations are using collaboration tools to
  get closer to customers
• Todays workers must be able to access pertinent
  corporate data and critical messages
• Regardless of the time of day or where they are
• Organizations use networking tools to hold
  virtual meetings and deliver training
• Collaboration tools will continue to help virtual
  teams stay connected and work collaboratively and
  productively

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Collaboration Tools

• Pay particular attention to the examples of how
  organizations use collaboration tools
• Both internally and across organizational
  boundaries

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Bulletin Board

• Electronic bulletin board
• Allows users to leave messages or read public
  messages
• Messages provide information or announce upcoming
  events
• Add to Web site
• To attract a community of users and increase site
  traffic
• Be extremely careful in what is posted to public
  bulletin boards

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Blog

• Web site in which contributors provide ongoing
  commentary on a particular subject
• Bloggers
• Readers are able to leave comments
• Organizations are using corporate blogs
  externally
• Ensure that the blogs allow realistic discussions
  about issues that are important and relevant to
  readers
• A growing number of organizations allow employees
  to create their own personal blogs

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Calendaring

• Allows people to capture and record scheduled
  meetings and events
• Check the electronic calendar of team members
• Notify or remind meeting and event participants
• Includes
• Google Calendar, IBM Lotus Notes, Microsoft
  Exchange, and Now Up-to-Date Contact from
  Novell Group Wise

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Desktop Sharing

• Remote log-in
• Allows users to connect to their office computer
  while they are away from the office
• Makes it possible for certified technicians to
  access users computers distantly

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Instant Messaging (IM)

• Real-time, informal communications based on the
  often rapid exchange of typed messages
• Has become an accepted communications tool in
  nearly 90 percent of all organizations
• Unsecured IM applications are easy prey for
  hackers
• Possibility for unintended release of private
  information
• Create a policy
• Establish an enterprise server

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Podcast

• Digital media file intended for playback on
  portable media players and personal computers
• Podcasting
• Method by which a podcast is syndicated
• Podcasts are available from many commercial
  broadcast and publishing concerns

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

• Family of data formats
• Automatically receive feeds anytime there are new
  postings
• Content is read using software
• Called an RSS reader
• Programmed to check automatically all subscribed
  feeds on a regular basis
• Internet aggregator
• Makes a number of Web feeds accessible at one URL

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS) (continued)

• Creates a common channel for company-wide
  announcements
• Increases revenue flow
• Develop strong relationships with consumers and
  create brand loyalty

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Shared Workspace

• Area hosted by a Web server
• Project members can share documents to keep each
  other current on
• The status of projects
• Topics of common interest
• Use restricted server
• Ensures privacy and controls access to the
  applications and associated data

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Web Conferencing

• Conduct live meetings or presentations over the
  Internet
• Download application on each of the attendees
  computers or a Web-based application
• Web conferencing products include
• GoToMeeting, Live Meeting, Netviewer, SkypePro,
  WebEx, and Yugma

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Web Conferencing (continued)

• Features
• Rich media presentations
• Live video via Webcam or digital video camera
• Panoramic video
• Active speaker indicator
• Public events page
• Personal recordings
• Virtual breakout rooms

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Web Conferencing (continued)

• Features
• Whiteboard with annotation, which allows the
  presenter and attendees to highlight or mark
  items on the slide presentation
• Text chat for live question-and-answer sessions
• Polls and surveys, which allow the presenter to
  pose questions with multiple choice answers to
  the audience

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Web Conferencing (continued)

• Webcast
• Presentation of information in one direction only
• Webinar
• Direction of the presentation is primarily one
  way from the presenter to the audience
• Can also be interactive between the presenter and
  audience
• Often sold as a service that is hosted on a Web
  server and controlled by the vendor

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Wikis

• Collaborative Web site that allows users to
  create and edit Web page content freely
• Using any Web browser
• Allow users to determine the relevancy of content
• Built-in version control

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Wikis (continued)

• Benefits of corporate wikis
• Easy to link to useful corporate information
  systems
• Reduce the amount of e-mail traffic
• Reduce the use of lengthy distribution lists
• Unauthorized people cannot view or edit certain
  pages
• Provide a tool for building consensus
• Allow users to build and organize useful new
  sources of data

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A Manager Takes Charge Ryan Companies Enables
Collaboration

• Commercial real estate firm
• Provides integrated design, development, and real
  estate management services
• 45 percent of the firms employees work from
  remote offices and job sites
• CIO John Leeper
• Led the effort for Ryan Companies to successfully
  adopt and implement Web-based collaboration
  services

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A Manager Takes Charge Ryan Companies Enables
Collaboration (continued)

• IT organizations help desk people use GoToAssist
  to fix problems remotely
• Employs GoToMeeting to enable quick, simple
  collaboration among all the people involved on a
  project
• Employs GoToMyPC to enable mobile workers to have
  anytime, anywhere access to applications,
  files, and data

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Wireless Communications

• Important business trend of the twenty-first
  century
• Used to
• Keep in touch with employees, customers, and
  business partners
• Access important corporate data and business
  applications
• Interact over the Internet and Web

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Wireless Communications (continued)

• Coverage of networks
• Local area networks to global networks that span
  the world
• Most desired network characteristics include
• Secure communications free from intrusion by
  unauthorized people or devices
• Extremely high-speed communications
• High-quality service
• Staying abreast of the rapidly changing
  developments is difficult

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Communications Fundamentals

• Communications channel
• Path that carries a signal from sender to
  receiver
• May support simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex
  communications
• Simplex channel
• Supports communications in only one direction
• Half-duplex channel
• Supports communications in both directions, but
  only in one direction at a time

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Communications Fundamentals (continued)

• Full-duplex channel
• Supports communications in both directions
  simultaneously
• Transmission media
• Used to propagate the communication signal
• May be guided or wireless
• Frequency at which a signal is transmitted is
  measured in cycles per second
• Called Hertz (Hz)

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Communications Fundamentals (continued)

• Bandwidth
• Range of frequencies that an electronic signal
  occupies on a given transmission media
• Measured in bits per second (bps)
• Electromagnetic spectrum
• Divided into frequency bands
• Use of radio frequency bands is regulated by the
  governments of most countries

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Communications Fundamentals (continued)
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Communications Fundamentals (continued)
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Cell Phone Services

• Scope of cell phone capabilities has grown far
  beyond a voice communications device
• Operate in the radio frequency range of the
  electromagnetic spectrum
• Uses two frequencies to support each call
• Communications area is divided into hexagonal
  cells
• Each cell includes a base station that consists
  of a tower and radio transmitters and receivers
• Operate at relatively low power levels

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Cell Phone Services (continued)

• United States government requires the presence of
  two cell phone service providers in every market
• Each cell phone service provider establishes its
  own Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) to
  manage communications
• Cell base station continuously monitors the
  signal strength of each call within its range
• Base stations coordinate through the MTSO to hand
  off the call from one cell to the next

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Cell Phone Services (continued)

• 1G
• Operated in the 800-MHz range
• Employed analog technology
• 2G
• First digital cell phones
• Mobile communications standards
• Global System for Mobile Communications Service
  (GSM)
• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS )
• Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE)

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Cell Phone Services (continued)

• 3G
• Digital cell phone service
• Operates at an increased bandwidth to enable data
  transfer rates of up to 3 Mbps
• 4G
• Describes the next evolution in wireless
  communications beyond 3G
• No clear standards exist

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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks

• Wi-Fi
• Wireless communications technology brand owned by
  the Wi-Fi Alliance
• Goal of the alliance
• Improve the interoperability of wireless local
  area network products
• Based on the set of 802.11 networking standards
• Hot spot
• Area covered by one or more interconnected
  wireless access points

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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks (continued)
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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks (continued)

• Users computer or personal digital assistant
• Wireless adapter translates data into a radio
  signal and transmits it using an antenna
• Wireless access point
• Consists of a transmitter with an antenna
• Receives the signal and decodes it
• Sends the information to the Internet over a
  wired connection
• Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access
  to a network

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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks (continued)

• Users can experience interference or dropped
  connections
• Wi-Fi networks covering cities
• High costs
• Can be a drawback that limits the use of Wi-Fi
  networks
• Security
• Important issue for Wi-Fi users
• All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of
  encryption technology

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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks (continued)

• Security
• Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP)
• Most common wireless encryption standard
• Easily broken
• Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and IEEE 802.11i
  (WPA2) encryption methods
• Much stronger than WEP

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Wi-Fi Solution for Local Area Networks (continued)

• Service set identifier (SSID)
• 32-character unique identifier
• Attached to the data packets sent over the
  wireless network
• Acts as a password when a mobile device tries to
  connect to the network

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WiMAX, a Solution for Metropolitan Area Networks

• Set of 802.16 wireless metropolitan-area network
  standards
• Supports different types of communications access
• Operates like Wi-Fi
• Over greater distances and at faster transmission
  speeds
• Single WiMAX tower can provide up to 3,000 square
  miles of coverage

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WiMAX, a Solution for Metropolitan Area Networks
(continued)

• Two basic forms of wireless service
• Non-line-of-sight service
• Line-of-sight option
• Much faster than non-line-of-sight service
• Some cellular companies are evaluating WiMAX as a
  means of increasing bandwidth
• Key component of Intels broadband wireless
  strategy

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WiMAX, a Solution for Metropolitan Area Networks
(continued)
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Summary

• Understand collaboration tools
• Tools
• Benefits and risks
• Wireless communication
• Basics
• Cell phones
• Wi-Fi
• WiMAX