The+ways+in+which+ICT+is+used-+communication+applications

= Communication Applications =

When your teachers were growing up, if they wanted to get in touch with somebody the only methods available to them were going to see the person, making a telephone call or writing a letter. Today you are spoilt for choice. Technology has made available many new communication methods such as email, fax, video conferencing and instant messaging. This growth in communications technology has also revolutionised the way that businesses work and keep in touch with staff and customers.
 * Introduction **

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Telephone
The telephone was invented in the 1870s and it quickly caught on as a popular method of communication. For the first time is allowed people to talk to one another across a distance. As with most technology, only the rich could afford to have a telephone in their own home. Most people made do with a telephone box. But slowly, it became normal to have one in your house. The next big change was to have cordless phones which allowed you to roam around the house with the handset. Then the idea of a 'mobile' phone came about in the 80's. They were hardly mobile, more like had held bricks. But very soon, mobiles appeared everywhere. Now telephones are changing again, with the appearance of Internet based services. = =

Advantages of telephones
- You get immediate feedback to things you say - The conversation is relatively private between you and the caller - although others might be able to hear what you are saying. - You can call someone anywhere on the planet - Calls can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - Internal calls within a business are usually free of charge - Most people have a telephone. No specialist equipment is needed. - If there is an answer phone, you can leave a message if the person isn't available to take your call. - If you don't know the telephone number you need there are plenty of services which will help you get the number (although they can be quite expensive). - The person must be available to take your telephone call - The line might be engaged when you call so you can't speak to the person when you want. - You have to pay for every minute you spend on the call. In the case of mobile or overseas calls, that can be expensive. - There might be noise or interference so the quality of the call could be poor. - With mobile calls you might move out of the range of a transmitter and so the call gets cut off. - You cannot see each other's body language so a lot of the non verbal communication is lost - It is not easy to make a record of what is said during the call. Things might be forgotten or mis-interpreted.
 * Disadvantages of telephones **

==**Fax **==

A fax (short for facsimile) machine transmits a copy of written and graphical information via the telephone network. It works in a similar way to a photocopier, except the copy is transmitted to a distant machine via the telephone network. Each Fax machine has a telephone number, this may or may not be shared with a telephone. Faxes are widely used in business offices because they make it very easy to transmit invoices, orders, rough drawings, copies of contracts and so on. It is now possible to send and receive Faxes by email. The email is sent to a service company who then converts it to a normal Fax message and sends it to the telephone number you specify.

**E-mail **
E-mail stands for 'Electronic Mail'. The electronic transmission of mail allows you to send formatted text and images to someone else with an email address. Each E-mail user has a 'mailbox' with a unique address into which messages can be sent ready for the recipient to 'collect' and read. If you have an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as AOL, BT internet or Yahoo then they will provide you with an email address and let you use their email service for no extra cost. You can also get an email address from one of the many free providers such as Hotmail or Gmail. Email is now one of the most common methods of communication - ask most people that you know, they will probably have an email address. Without email, most businesses would not be able to operate.

==**Video and Teleconferencing **== Teleconferencing allows people in different locations to talk to each other as a group. This is also known as an Audio-conference or simply a 'Conference Call' It works by each person 'logging on' to the conference call. When you switch on your conference call device and enter your user ID number, an automatic voice saying something like "Mr Jones has joined the conference" is broadcast. Everyone says hello and carries on with the meeting. Video conferencing is similar to teleconferencing except that people in the meeting can now see one another because video cameras are used to send live images over telephone lines.

**Instant Messaging **
This is mostly a text based service, where one person types a message and the other person immediately sees it pop up in their IM (Instant Message) window. Groups can also be set up so that a number of people can chat to each other whilst online. Each person must have an 'Instant Messaging' (IM) client open on their computer. The way it works is very similar to email, because both IM and Email client software need to connect to a server in order to work. The difference between email and Instant Messaging is that the IM window shows the message almost as soon as it is typed - no downloads are required. This kind of service is used by business people to help keep in touch whilst on the move. Imagine a work colleague is at the airport waiting for a plane connection, they can use Instant Messaging to 'talk' to colleagues in the office - it is a good way to keep on working (and avoid the sheer boredom of waiting for a plane!) despite being away from the office. It is also used at home. For example, you are online doing your usual stuff on the Internet, but you have an IM window open because friends and family are also online. You chat whilst each of you are online. Another common use of IM is with online gaming. Perhaps twenty of you have gathered together in the online game and now you are arranging what needs to happen next. Each person fires up their IM client and joins the group to chat about tactics and so on.