Communication Applications

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Communication Applications

• Chapter 3

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This presentation will

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

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Introduction

• 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.

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Fax

• 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.

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Fax

• 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 printedit can be
  reprinted!

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Fax Typical uses

• 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.

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Fax Facilities

• 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.

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Email

• 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.

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Email

• 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.

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Email and SPAM

• Unfortunatelyin certain respectsemail has
  caused us a whole load of problems with
  advertising.
• Because it is very cost effective to send
  emailscompanies flood our inboxes with
  advertising emails.
• Some companies SPAM email boxes with junk mail.
• In factthere is so much SPAM floating through
  the internet it now equates to 90 of all the
  email we receive!

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Email Typical Uses

• Advertising (which can be tailored to users
  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 peoplelike a teacher reminding his
  students that there is a test on all of this
  stuff coming up!

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Email Facilities

• Advertising (which can be tailored to users
  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 peoplelike 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.

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Bulletin Boards

• These are used to allow people to discuss topics
  that are of interest to them.
• A fantastic example of a bulletin board isDUH
  DUH DUH!!!

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Bulletin Boards
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Bulletin Boards

• They are structured similar to this

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Bulletin Boards Typical Uses

• Talk about areas of interest
• Gaming
• Political issues
• Educational issues
• Etc

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Bulletin Boards Facilities

• 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

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Video Conferencing

• 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 cant provide due to low
  numbers.

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Video Conferencing - Facilities

• 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.

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Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

• 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.

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Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - Facilities

• 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.

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Activity

• Describe the following communication
  applications
• Fax
• Email
• Bulletin boards
• Video conferencing
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
• Remember Identify, Amplify and Exemplify
• In addition to this you should also complete the
  activities on pages 93 to 97 of the A2 course
  text book.

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Example exam questions

• 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!