How To Understand Communication Services

By Jennifer Fletcher, 21 Jan 23:54

Communication of all kinds: Marketing communication, Data communication skills, Wireless communication, Business communication, satellite and much more.

Marshall McLuhan's most famous statement, "The medium is the message," is no truer than in today's business world.

The variety of methods available for transmitting information in the current workplace can leave a person starting a small business feeling intimidated. With this in mind, How-To.com presents a guide to help you find your way through the maze that is the communications world.

Elephants often communicate with their trunks. When danger lurks near, one elephant will raise its trunk to alert the troops. Despite the fact that the rest of the herd might be a half-mile away, they can still understand this signal.

The following is a list of methods of electronic communication, avoiding non-electronic ways such as standard mail (a.k.a. "snail mail"). Depending on how advanced your business is, you may need only a few of these systems, or you may need all of them. The list is broken up into two categories: mediums and end-user equipment.

Mediums
Telephone Wire. Telephone wire is made up of one or more pairs of strands of copper wire twisted together. One of the wires is known as the "tip," while the other is the "ring." These two wires connect to form the connection. As multiple lines are added to the phone, so are pairs of wires. For example, a two-line phone would have four wires. Switches are used to rotate the calls between lines.

Cable. One method of transmitting information is through coaxial cable, which has the capability of transmitting signals back and forth simultaneously. A coaxial cable - used for telephone, telegraph and television technology - consists of two concentric conductors, an inner and an outer, which are then separated by an insulator. Through the current in the inner conductor, transmissions sent to the outer conductor are brought inside the wire, instead of fading outside. Just think, without it there would be no Home Shopping Network.

Fiber Optics. Fiber optics transmit information by using pulses of light over microscopic glass fibers, which allow a greater amount of information to be carried. Fiber optics systems also are immune to electromagnetic interference, such as lightning.


There are more than 5,919,682 telephones in New York City (that's more than in the entire country of Spain), and almost 33,072,975 miles of cable wire.


Ethernet. Ethernet is the most popular of the business Local Area Network (LAN) systems. It uses either a coaxial cable or a twisted pair of wires to transmit information. The advantage to Ethernet, besides speed (the most common, 10Base-T, can travel at 10 megabits per second), is that it offers collision protection, so that two network connections do not try the same line.

Internet. The Internet has become not only a great method for processing information, but also

A "necromancer" is someone who claims to be able to tell the future by communicating with the dead.
an indispensable marketing tool and sales engine. Connected through a network of Internet service providers and distributed through millions of computers, the Internet uses two forms of protocols - TCP (transmission control protocol) and IP (Internet protocol) - to create the language that sends information through the network. The TCP is used to decipher and break down all information into segments known as packets, which contain web addresses for the sender and the receiver. IP sends the information from one address to another through a system of routers. These two protocols are typically used together in the transmission of information called TCP/IP.

End-User Equipment
Telephone. Invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, the telephone has become a necessity in the workplace, connecting people from across the world and, through conference technology, bringing several people in separate locations together at once. For a business to operate efficiently, a phone system must have a minimum of two phone lines, with the second line available for fax and/or Internet connection. For multiple-line phone servers, your office will need a PBX server, a unit that controls the network of phone lines and voice mail. See How-To Understand Telephone Systems to learn more on this subject.

Answering Machine/Voice Mail. A required accessory for a phone system, an answering machine allows messages to be collected while the user is away from the phone. In the office, where there is a need for multiple people to receive messages, a voice mail system is necessary to corral and transfer messages to the proper people.


33% of dog owners admit that they talk to their dogs over the phone or on the answering machine while they're gone, according to the American Animal Hospital Association.


Cell Phone. Ideal for the person on the go, cell phones provide a direct link to you, creating a "mobile office." A cell phone is a duplex device, which means that it is using two radio frequencies - one for talking and one for receiving - to process and transmit information. There are three types of cellular phones: analog, digital and PCS. Most cell phones offer voice mail as a feature.

Pagers. A pager can be a great companion - or alternative - to a cell phone. If someone can't reach you on your phone, either because your phone is out range or is shut off to recharge batteries, they can still contact you. When a page comes through, it alerts you with a beeping noise or a vibration. Pagers either show the message (usually a phone number or an alphanumeric message) on the unit's display, or by alerting you that you have a voice mail message to retrieve once you are near a phone. For more information, see How-To Understand Pagers.

Walkie-Talkies. They're not just for Ponch and John anymore. These are helpful tools for employees who work in a large area where cell phones and pagers would be inconvenient, such as factories or construction sites. Walkie-talkies work through radio waves, containing a series of frequencies that can be separately tuned in. A series of walkie-talkies on the same frequency within a specific range can hear messages from everyone, thus making the walkie-talkie a quick way to locate employees and get instant status reports.

E-Mail. E-mail is a quick and accessible way to transmit messages in and out of the office. Connected through your Internet or your computer network, e-mail is also a great way to send documents by attaching them to the message. As a written form of communication, e-mail can provide privacy when a phone can't, and messages can either be deleted after viewing or archived if needed for future reference. However, messages are not usually considered official documents (although with the invention of electronic signatures, this may change), so do not use e-mail for contract agreements or anything needing official approval. E-mail provides two unique advantages: message delivery to several people at once, and the freedom from having to copy, file and cross-reference your correspondence. For more on this topic, see How-To Understand E-Mail.

The use of cell phones while driving is either outlawed or highly restricted in Australia, England, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Faxes. Fax machines allow your office to transmit written material quickly through your phone system and are great for sending items to those who do not have e-mail access, or for print documents that are not in your computer system. A fax machine requires a separate phone line to prevent incoming and outgoing faxes from clogging up your main phone line. More information can be found by reading How-To Understand Faxes.

Instant Messenger. An Instant Messenger is another Internet accessory that allows on-the-spot contact. Instant Messengers (IM) work like e-mail, only the messages are real-time, so they appear on the screen but are not actually sent as files, i.e., there is no record of the message once you have cleared the screen. An IM allows the privacy in your office that a phone call may not, and avoids long distance charges that would come with the phone. But not all Internet services have an Instant Messenger (AOL and MSN are two notable services that do), so keep this in mind if you need this feature. (See How-To Understand Instant Messengers for more on this topic)

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