Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY

Business communications and technology

Students Name

Institutions Affiliation
Business Communication And Technology 2

Abstract

Marshall et al (2012) says that, the same ways that the technology is always improving

and advancing is also the same rate at which the world of business communication is growing. In

the past years, business people and entrepreneurs wrote letters and documents to their clients and

the meetings were always held in a meeting room or a conference room. The recent world of

business communication has come with a much different look. New devices have been created

and invented in order to help people and the organizations to be able to talk with their clients in a

much more comfortable way. Apart from these devices, the social platform has been introduced

and it has improved the margin of people a business organization can reach at a certain time.

This type of platform has increased the productivity of the organizations over the recent years.

According to Marshall et al (2012), there are many impacts and effects of the new

technology in the world of today. The speed of the information that has been seen is greater. The

impact of using the new technology of communication has seen the large amount of data and

information being sent and received at the same time. The much growth and advancement of the

technology in the recent years has changed the way the business organizations operate and

communicate with their employees and their customers. These changes in the technology sector

have led to the requirements of the individuals who are literate in computing and using the new

devices in communicating.
Business Communication And Technology 3

Introduction

The changes of technology have also changed the conventions of the much more written

communication and favoring a more direct style which in turn promotes many types of

communication. (Marshall et al 2012)

For the functions of the business communication is very much needed. For example,

looking at the banks, there are many types of communications used in a daily routine. From the

time the personnel enter the bank the tellers, the bankers and the management personnel is

always allowed to log into their respective computers and communication devices in order for

them to be able to communicate with each other. There is a need to use new technologies in

communicating with each other in businesses (Marshall et al 2012). This is because it allows for

a much and faster way of reaching the targeted people. It also helps the customers in answering

their questions without actually appearing in person to check their details on the banks. All they

have to do is call the customer care service at the banks and provide their identifications. After

this they are able to be helped (Marshall et al 2012)

According to Marshall et al (2012), the way that banks operate is defined as a team.

During the time of recruitment, all the workers go through a certain training program that allows

them to be able to acquire skills that they can use in the near future to communicate with clients

and be able to serve them well. In this manner they are able to improve the personal relationship

between the clients and the bank.

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Communication in the business organizations

Communication is always a process. It involves five steps that the communication

process has and it is also transmitting an idea, sending the idea through a medium, receiving the

message, understanding the idea, and giving the feedback to the message sender. The

communication process becomes affected, when the failure occurs during any of the five steps

involved, and the information that is at hand will not flow in a smooth and accurate manner

(Marshall et al 2012). The first step in communication is transmitting an idea. This step is the

information of several thoughts and the desire to express the ideas. Sending an idea through a

certain medium, this is the second step which means that the message needs to be sent once it is

formed. Transmitting an idea can be done in writing, orally, or by action. Each type of methods

is interpreted in a different way, no matter what kind of the medium was used to send a message

(Marshall et al 2012).

According to Cardon, & Okoro (2010), the most critical part of the communication

process is the part of receiving the message. This is always the reverse of the transmission of the

message. The message being received and acted upon makes it effective. And then it needs to be

understood, this is the most important part as the message needs to be correctly interpreted. The

sender in the first place has to be aware of the person that he or she needs to send the message to.

This provides the sender with the need to know and prepare a message that is appropriate to the

receiver.

Cardon, & Okoro (2010), continue saying that, giving out the feedback for the message

to the sender is the last and final step in the communication process. The communication process

comes to an end, when this final step occurs. At this point the recipient will always let the sender
Business Communication And Technology 5

know and be aware if the information that was received was very much understood or needs

clarification. Exchanging information that involves at least two people is the primary reason for

communication. The communication process is always the nature of our lives and how we get

everything we do across to the rest of the world that is why it is so important (Cardon, & Okoro

2010),

There are two stages involved with regards to communication. The first stage is listening

to and the second stage is tuning in. Both of these words are distinctive. All together for the

communication procedure always to be effective you need to hear something first and after that

tune in. Hearing is always that point at which a mans ear gets sound waves and after that sends

it to the mind. Listening which is the dynamic procedure is the second some portion of

communication. You should be a dynamic member as such. Cardon, & Okoro (2010), they say

that, the dynamic audience, not only just assesses the message before they react, they also think

as the speakers transfer the message. The considered pace active members is a ton quicker than

the talking speed of listening members, which will bring about slacking and may prompt

wandering off in fantasy land. An audience must always focus on the message with the goal that

they may turn into an active listeners and to be fruitful in communication to defeat this (Cardon,

& Okoro 2010).

History of communication technology systems

Andzulis, Panagopoulos & Rapp, (2012), say that, communications and the technology

advancements changed very much towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning

of the twentieth century. There has since been a rapid growth of the technology communications

since. In the past, there were technologies, communications of the telex machines. These kinds of
Business Communication And Technology 6

machines are the direct ancestors of the now known systems of the e-mail. The telex machines

are not however used in the 21st century. They are not used any more since they have been

replaced by the electronic mail systems.

However, the faxes are used in a more advanced way. Their use increases in a daily basis.

The Faxes are also considered as the ancestors of the E-mail and the networking systems being

used widely in the 21st century.

Andzulis, Panagopoulos & Rapp, (2012), continues saying that, during the early 1960s,

there were many organizations and businesses that were pulled toe=wards the use of the

computers as the devices of handling the data. These kinds of computers used then were big

computers; they were used by the progressive companies. They were huge and big mainframes

which had the tubes and reels of the tape that was used to store data. Andzulis, Panagopoulos &

Rapp, (2012), explain that, their size was so big that they could cover a whole room when they

were completely installed. Keyboards and the screens were hooked up to the main frames using

the terminals. People with no expertise in the computing systems were the ones owning these

machines. This therefore made the programming to be done from the start since there was no

packaged software and computer programmers were very few by then. (Andzulis, Panagopoulos

& Rapp, 2012).

Advancing to the 1970s, many and a large pool of people were owning this computer that

had their terminals sharing the information from the large mainframes. Other softwares were

developed by the programmers such that the programming of the computers was not to be done

from the scratch as that of the 1950s. During this time the computers were owned by very rich

people because they were expensive to get. And organizations had to fork out large sums of
Business Communication And Technology 7

money in order to have them installed in their businesses. (Andzulis, Panagopoulos & Rapp,

(2012).

Coming into the 1980s, Andzulis, Panagopoulos & Rapp, (2012), says that computing

systems advanced at a very rapid rate. With the local area networks, developments of the fiber

optics and the satellite technology coming into place, along with new and personal computers

coming, it facilitated the growth of the business sector. This improved the communication

between the sectors of the organization and made the rise of the information technology to grow

within the organizations.

Andzulis, Panagopoulos & Rapp, (2012), say that, these days the companies have

acquired the expensive laptops, the electronic spreadsheets, desktops computers, and other

programs that they use to share, gather and store information. In the information technology

sector change is always considered a necessity since they are used to influence, the changes in

businesses, people and the society.

The Big Changes

Internet

During the period of 1961 to 1965, Buechler, (2010), shows that an institute of

technology began to do the research, sharing information in small devices and phone linked

networks. These brought about the rise and begin with the creation of the internet. The

development of the telegraphs, telephones, the radios and the computers set the stages of the

integration capabilities seen between the devices today. During the 1991 World Wide Web was
Business Communication And Technology 8

introduced. This introduction of the internet has revolutionized the communications sector using

the computers like nothing seen before.

Buechler, (2010). Still, says that, the internet has become a worldwide broadcasting

system that is used to broadcast and as a platform that people use to communicate with other

people from afar. This has brought about the interaction of people from different parts of the

world sharing information using their computers and moving it up to the internet.

Companies and businesses of the todays world have improvised the use of the internet in

order to make the sales oft there companies improve. This has been achieved through many

business organizations using and creating the websites. The creation of these websites has made

the companies a lot of good through increasing the awareness of their products to many people.

(Buechler, 2010).

It has also increased the sales of the companies. Many companies use the internet to sell

their products. They mostly have the portals that require the client to log into the website or

create a new account on the website with their own details. This allows them to buy any item the

company is selling and then pay though the internet and online banks. Thereafter the items will

be shipped to the client by the method he or she chooses. (Buechler, 2010).

EMAIL

Curran & Lennon (2011) say that, in the past E- mail used to be limited to the use of the

universities with the computing services and resources. Its now growing in the use of companies

in the world. The development and the advancement of the computers that can always networked

worldwide and the increasing development of software programs that always makes the
Business Communication And Technology 9

communication easy, e-mail is beginning to dominate the daily communications in business

organizations and companies.

According to Curran & Lennon (2011), there are several components that make up the e-

mail systems. These components are, the users, the massages, the senders and the receiver

addresses, messaging transports, the gateways, value added networks and the mostly known as

the directory systems. The emails have the users who are commonly and very often people. They

have each others address they have to type the message and then send it to the receivers address

from their own addresses. The E-mail system uses a certain structure of the message, generally

comprising of the header (TO; FROM; SUBJECT) followed by the BODY which may include

the texts, image attachments, graphics and the audio.

Curran & Lennon (2011), continue explaining that the E-mail systems have generally

changed the organizations of the businesses. Many organizations now days use the emails to

communicate with their clients and employees. A client can be attended to and answered by the

organizations if they have any queries regarding with the items that they sell. A client will write

his or her query and send it through the email and then he or she will be answered back through

the same medium of the email.

You can also send the faxes and telex messages using the Email systems. An email user

can also be able to reach out to groups who have an email account and be able to share large

amount of data like videos, graphics, music and any attachments that they will need to

communicate effectively with each other. (Curran & Lennon 2011).

Business Communication And Technology 10

Many business organizations can always monitor their own emails since the messages are

only read and do not require printing of the messages. Although they can monitor the messages

the users or the senders vary from one person to another. Many tend to omit the use of the

punctuation marks while the others use the punctuation marks at the end of the sentences.

Organizations also can use the emails in advertising their products to many clients. All

the clients need to do is to subscribe to an online newspaper and then provide their emails. In this

way, the company can always send the massages regarding the new products the company has

produced. They can also be alerted of the type of promotions and the discounts being offered.

Curran & Lennon (2011), also states that, the usage of the email with, many people have led to

the innovations of many technologies, they include the CD-ROM databases, the voice mails,

teleconferencing, groupware and the faxes, which have been around for several decades and also

very common in the new business communications.

Voice Mail

Voice mail has been a common and very popular technology being used in the todays

phones. This had become as a privacy improvement because it always eliminates the telephone

tags being placed by the managers. The voice mail always records the message on a computer

disk that the receivers can always retrieve the messages from at any time that they wish and

want.

Curran & Lennon (2011), says that, when an incoming call is not always answered, the

voice mail system always guides the caller to record the message and leave it to the receiver as a
Business Communication And Technology 11

form of the voice mail. The receiver then can either listen or download the messages left by the

clients through the telephone.

Many companies do not use the voice mail services more often, but it has increased the

relationships between the company and the clients. This is because they can leave the message at

any time and be answered back by the same system by the receiver.

Groupware

This kind of the system, Curran & Lennon (2011), says that they always allow the

supervisor to manage the workflow of the departments through the use of the computers. It

always allows a large pool of people to use the software at the same time to produce documents,

always keep track of the messages and the projects. This kind of software also is used to manage

the deadlines of certain projects.This kind of system enables the supervisor of a certain

organization to be able to improve the workflow of the company through an individual computer

instead of physically walking from one place to the other or having a conversation between two

people in the face. (Curran & Lennon 2011)

Many companies use these improvements of the technology by installing the software

and manage the company on certain needed projects and timely, needed documents so as to be

able to serve the clients accordingly. Curran & Lennon (2011), explains that,many clients need

their work done in a timeframe and by the company and business organizations,having this kind

of software in their ranks they are able to serve their clients and improve the relationship

between them and the clients. This in turn improves the sales and the profits of the organizations.
Business Communication And Technology 12

CD-ROM databases

Curran & Lennon (2011) say that, these kinds of technologies also are very popular data

storage devices. The compact disk read only memory is used in the companies also has been

used to keep and store the data and the information of the companies. The compact disk read

only memory (CD ROM) is a powerful tool that is used to store large amount of information on a

single material. They are often found in encyclopedias, the dictionaries, abstracts on different

kinds of subjects and the telephone directories in the telephone companies. These multimedia

software or applications that include the video, graphics, the audio and the texts are majorly

making the CD ROMS storage a necessity in many companies.

Curran & Lennon (2011), Continue saying that, a large number of business companies do

use the compact disk in read only memory in storing the data of their clients. This promotes the

privacy of the clients details and the relationship of the company with the clients. The use of this

CD ROMS has increased the trust between the clients to their respective companies. This is due

to the way the companies keep their information which includes bank information and their

home addresses as well as the phone numbers.

Teleconferencing

Curran & Lennon (2011), say that, this is the new emerging technology in the world of

business today. It always allows the people in meetings to talk with one another through the use

of computers and the projectors that are connected to the screens on the walls. They also help the

people to communicate with each other through the three dimensional glasses. Many business
Business Communication And Technology 13

organizations are busy installing these new technologies in their companies and businesses with

the aim of improving how they communicate and improve the production of the companies.

Teleconferencing, Curran & Lennon (2011) continue saying it will help the companies to

move at a fast pace in improvement. It will also save the time that the company directors will

have to use to travel from their respective parts of residence around the globe to the company.

Instead, they will be able to communicate with each other live on the screens through the

teleconferencing and thus saving the company huge amounts of cash used to travel.

Faxes

Laick & Dean (2011), talks that, the facsimile machine is used to print pages, and convert

them to signals and then transmit the signals over the telephone lines to the other receiving fax

machines at the company or outside to a different company.

The oldest types of facsimile machines had to be connected to a machine of the same type

in order to be able to decode the message sent by the other machine. However, the new types of

facsimile machines do not require to be connected to the machines of the same type at the

receiving end and they can always transmit a page in less than a minute. (Laick & Dean (2011).

New digital machines require the digital transmission, which makes it possible to always

use the computer system or program as a receiver at the other end. These kinds of newer

machines are very much faster than the machines of the previous machines of the previous

generations.
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Managing the information outside of an organization

1. Managing the news media

Laick & Dean (2011), says that, the news is generally classified into two groups; the hard vs

the soft. The hard news generally is that kind of the news that is timely and ordinary and the

public is always entitled to know this kind of news. News such as the fires and the crushing of

the planes are the hard news that the public is always made aware about. The soft news is more

often timeless this means that they can be used at any time and within a very large and wide

framework and they are always with the positive results or slant.

In the business organizations soft news is that news that has a certain material that in one

way or another educates the readers and the general public about a new product the company is

offering or the information about the company. Hard news in the business organizations is the

news that includes the quarterly earnings and the announcements of the general annual meetings.

(Fieseler & Fleck 2013).

Often the company or the business manager will always ignore the soft news. This is because

they will always believe that what the company supports be it either a childrens facility or a

football match is not something that requires being newsworthy. However, these kinds of soft

news from the company will in one way or another convey a business organizations message

and help to build on the favors of the customers or the clients. (Fieseler & Fleck 2013).

2. Managing the corporate News

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According to Fieseler & Fleck (2013). There are many tools of the corporate news that are

always available for communicating with the media. The mostly and commonly used tools are

those like, the interviews, the conferences, the letters to the editor and talk shows.

A press release is always an informational memo that is given out from the organizations to

the newsroom to be broadcasted and aired so that the public can be able to get the information

concerning the company. The failures of the interview can always be avoided by the manager or

the spokesperson of the company by researching very thoroughly about the information about the

company. (Dyrud, 2012).

The innovations of the technology by creating the televisions have also been a boost to the

world of business. The calls in talk shows that are often held on the televisions are one way that

the company can be able to market itself through the manager. According to Dyrud, (2012), the

manager here is always required to attend the show and give the overview of what the company

is all about to the public. It has come as a good method for the companies to convey the message

to the public.

3. Managing the information through company spokespeople

A large number of companies always do select or appoint one person to be their main

representative in dealing with the communications to the outside world or the general public. The

person has to be always very well researched and be well equipped with the companys

information, strategies and the overall objectives of the business organization. (Dyrud, 2012).

The speaker has to be well prepared and always be comfortable to speak to the public and the

groups and be able to field the questions safely always.

Business Communication And Technology 16

4. Managing crisis communications

Taking a no comment approach to the communications media is the most inappropriate and

the worst decision one can take, when the company or a business organization is in a bad

situation at that particular time. If someone takes this step the media using the new innovations

of technology will always spread the bad information about the company to the public. (Dyrud,

2012).

Doing this will always tint the image of the company and it will in turn lead the public to not

buy the products the business will be selling at that time. This will in turn lead to the demise and

the decline of the company and eventually the company can be closed or shut down due to not

managing the crisis.

A crisis such as the environmental issues, the fall of the profits the employee layoffs and

other disasters will and can always cause major problems for the company unless they are

addressed early (Dyrud, 2012).

Challenges facing the business communication and technology and their solutions

In the twenty first century according to Dyrud, (2012), there are many challenges that

face the business communications and technology sector. These challenges and obstacles can

always be environmental, social, political and even economical considering the way they affect

the business communication and technology.

Some of the challenges are discussed here below

Business Communication And Technology 17

Inadequate funds- many companies do not have enough funds that are required to buy

and install all the required technologies that support communications with the company.

This will in turn lead to low processing and forwarding of the data.

The company needs to release the funds needed to install these communication

technologies. They will in turn increase the speed of processing and forwarding

information within the company and the clients (Dyrud, 2012).

Company rule- another factor and challenge that many organizations face is that, you

may find a certain organization does not want to install the communication technologies.

This has led to the loss of the data information in recent years of the companies.

The companies with these kinds of rules need to lift them up and allow their companies to

buy and install the communication technologies

Government policy- apart from the company rule the government policies also reduce the

installations of the communication technologies a company can have.

The governments need to create new rules demanding that the companies install the new

communication strategies and thus improve the economy of the country in turn

Communication barriers- there are four kinds of business communication barriers that

can affect business communication and technology. They are namely; emotional,

physical; semantic and ineffective listening.

The emotional and physical barriers may not be able to be overcome that easily, but the

other two barriers can be overcome. Semantics are the disagreement of certain meanings.

While ineffective listening can be overcome by the listener being more attentive to the

information being passed across (Dyrud, 2012).

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Conclusion

The technological advancements have been the cause of the transformation of the

business communication sector. The innovations have also come with a lot of challenges and

disadvantages within the organizations. There is a need for many business organizations to put

up the communications technologies of the 21st century and therefor, be able to convey the

messages both within and outside to the public.

The companies also have to know about how to be able to manage and always overcome

the challenges that faces them. The challenges may be in terms of technologies and the

communication sector within the organization. They need to know how to deal with them by

mainly replacing them with the most updated technologies that can improve the communication

between the company and the public.

Business Communication And Technology 19

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