Computer and Technology

THE BENCHMARK - FACE-TO-FACE

There's no doubt that face-to-face connections is the most beneficial means for most individuals. Why? Because of its two-way characteristics. It's about discussion. Audience are not inactive associates. When someone speaks to us, we provide a ongoing flow of reactions back to them. Some are spoken, but many/most are not. These reactions have the energy to actually modify the concept being published by the communicator. What's more, they have the energy to modify how other listeners' understand that concept. (Similarly, other listeners have the energy to modify your presentation.)

Unfortunately, however, the international characteristics of company makes it impossible to perform face-to-face conferences for every connections. So what are the alternatives? Particularly, what are the solutions offered by technology?

EMAIL - THE STARTING POINT

The benefits of e-mail are numerous and well known, and consist of (but are not limited to):

•Email is a great procedure for circulating details to individuals. It is fast and affordable.

•It is very practical - you can easily connect across timezones.

•It provides a useful electronic paper pathway.

•It can save significant amounts of your energy and effort because most of the half truths around a trip (the community niceties) are seen as needless in e-mail.

•It allows individuals to read and reply to information in their own time.

•The terminology, sentence structure and punctuation in an e-mail can be regarded and modified before finally delivering.

But e-mail does have its limitations:

•Its lack of community niceties is a double-edged blade. Without the benefit of other connections hints, it's sometimes difficult to understand the tone of an e-mail, and this can make some information uncertain.

•It isn't ideal for critical connections. For many individuals, e-mails are not 'real-time' connections. We all have that unaddressed e-mail seated at the bottom of the list. Because e-mails are so simple to neglect, they're also simple to forget.

•Ironically, email's distribution efficiency has been one of the major barriers to its connections efficiency. It's so simple to provide e-mails - and they're so confidential - that our in-boxes are now filled with SPAM. Consequently, e-mails are considered with some doubt. It's sometimes difficult to recognize genuine e-mails, but it's very simple to just hit Remove.

•Because e-mail senders are typically geographically (and often culturally) far away from their individuals, they have no immediate visible and aural hints to help them customize the concept as they kind.

But there's no need to 'throw out the baby with the bathwater'. Email is a great solution to many connections needs. And for those it is ill-equipped to handle, there are more recent, more appropriate technological innovation that are built for the job...

WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES - THE PERFECT SUPPLEMENT

Web 2.0, a phrase created by O'Reilly Press (an American media company) in 2004 relates, to a second-generation of internet-based solutions that let individuals work together and discuss details on the internet in new ways.

Web 2.0 technological innovation are well described in www.wikipaedia.org, which indicates that these websites allow the customers of the websites (members) to create and discuss material, such as discovering and talking about ideas, views, projects and issues. Web 2.0 is all about connections. It is the progress of the globally web from an limitless collection of fixed webpages to an limitless globe of conversations. These webpages can be limited to particular individuals (eg the executive), or open to all associates. The only difference is that the connections occurs in the online world, and those participating can be seated behind a key pad just about anywhere on the planet.

Importantly, a visitor's understanding of the concept in a Web 2.0 connections is determined, not just by the founder, but also by the reactions (e.g. comments) of the viewers. What's more, the publisher's actual concept tends to be far more liquid as it, too, is informed by the reactions of the viewers. In other words, Web 2.0 solutions are far more like face-to-face conversations than any connections technological innovation before them.

So what are these growing technological innovation that we should be keeping an eye on? The two most significant are 'Wikis' and 'Blogs'. The following explanations are from http://www.wikipedia.org, an on the internet encyclopaedia developed as a rss nourishes.

•Wikis - A rss nourishes is a kind of website that allows customers to easily add, remove or otherwise modify and modify material. This ease of connections and function makes a rss nourishes an efficient device for collaborative publishing. For example Wikipedia (wikipedia.com) and wikiwikiweb (http://www.wikiwikiweb.com).

•Blogs - A blog site, which is usually reduced to blog site, is a kind of on the internet journal or publication which allows one to voice their opinion on something. Weblogs often offer feedback or details on a particular subject. A common blog site brings together written text, pictures, and links to other blogs, websites, and other media. Weblogs are usually written text centered, but they can consist of pictures, video clips or sound (podcasting). Weblogs can be provided in a way that makes a discussion between customers. As an example, see the Modern australia Morning Usher in travel blog site (http://blogs.smh.com.au/lostintransit/).

THE USES OF WEB 2.0

As with face-to-face community events and boards, on the internet gatherings entice a wide variety of associates willing to interact with, amuse, make friends with, recommend and session.

It was revealed in The Australia (Tuesday 8 Aug 2006) that the community processing element of Web 2.0 has recently been accepted by the US Govt. The US State Division has started such as blogs and other Web 2.0 ideas to provide community details to people. It is also using rss nourishes style solutions to enhance details by allowing small expert areas to enhance advisory solutions.

The same article advised that Australia’s leading details advisory body, the Australia Govt Information Management Office, had started testing with the use of blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 technological innovation.

As new on the internet community media websites mushroom, they are becoming progressively focused on areas, ideally best for account centered companies and the NFP industry. Illustrations of community community media websites consist of My Space (http://www.myspace.com), Class mates (http://www.classmates.com) and Bikely (bikely.com).

OTHER USEFUL TECHNOLOGIES

•SMS - Brief Message Assistance (SMS) is something available on most digital cell mobile phones (and other cell phone gadgets, e.g. a Pocket PC, or sometimes even desktop computer computers) that allows the delivering of short information between cell mobile phones, other portable gadgets and even residential mobile phones.

•Podcast - Podcasting is the technique of circulating multi-media information, such as sound or video programs, over the web using submitting nourishes, for play-back on cell phone gadgets and pcs.

•Webinars - Web conference conferences is used to hold get together or stay demonstrations over the web. In the early years of the globally web, the terms "web conferencing" and "computer conferencing" were often used to make reference to team conversations performed within a community (via published written text messages), but the phrase has progressed to relate specifically to "live" or "synchronous" conferences, while the published concept variety of discussion is called a "forum", "message board", or "bulletin board". A web conference is a conference which is performed over the World Wide Web. It is a kind of web conference conferences. Contrary to a Webcast, which is transmitting of details in one direction only, a web conference is designed to be entertaining between the speaker and viewers. A web conference is 'live' in the sense that details is communicated according to plans, with a starting and finishing time. In most cases, the speaker may speak over a standard line, directing out details being provided on screen, and the viewers can react over their own mobile phones, ideally a speaker phone. Whilst not necessarily regarded Web 2.0, Online seminars can also be a useful procedure for details submission and discussion amongst account centered companies and SMS can offer important or immediate confirmations.

CONCLUSION

Email is - and will continue to be - an amazingly useful and practical connections device. In fact, with the appearance of new technological innovation that are either more direct, more immediate, or more like face-to-face connections, e-mail is improved. As businesses complement their e-mail utilization with other connections technological innovation, e-mail will be progressively arranged for those emails to which it is ideally suitable.

Keywords:
communication technologies,email,web 2,web 2.0