TELECOMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

TELECOMMUNICATION
Telecommunications, also known as telecom, is the exchange of information
over significant distances by electronic means and refers to all types of voice,
data and video transmission. This is a broad term that includes a wide range of
information transmitting technologies such as telephones (wired and wireless),
satellites, radio and television broadcasting, the internet and telegraphs. The
term telecommunications is often used in its plural form because it involves
many different technologies.

THE ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN BUSINESS

Telecommunication technology has advanced drastically over the past few

years. The advancements in telecommunication have not only affected the way
individuals communicate but also improved how businesses carry out their
operations. For any business, reliable and timely communication within and
outside the organization is a critical part of success. And to facilitate that, a
business needs to have a strong communication system in place. An entire
telecommunication setup may constitute computers, video conference
equipment, teleconference software, internet-based communication platforms or
business-oriented applications. All these tools can be used by both small and
enterprise-level businesses to achieve their communication needs.

The following are some of the major benefits that any business can enjoy from
adopting the latest telecommunication system and tools.

BENEFITS OF TELECOMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

1. COST SAVING
The use of telecommunication technology has allowed many businesses to
save more while enjoying efficiency in communication. For instance,
using video conferencing systems, company employees can connect and
interact with their colleagues from different locations in real-time. There's no
need to book flights, hotel rooms or meeting space. Meeting participants can
simply interact on an online-based virtual space.
2. TIME SAVING

With the use of such tools as computers, smartphones and video conference
systems, sending and receiving messages in real-time is more efficient than
ever. For instance, using an audio or video call system, a customer can
present a complaint to the support team and have the problem solved
immediately. Telecommunication also makes it easier for a business to link
with employees, suppliers and partners from any location in the world
instantly. With the use of video conferencing systems participants can enjoy
interacting with one another as if they were in the same room. This
eliminates the need to travel, book meeting rooms or send emails, which
often consume a lot of time.
3. TEAM COLLABORATION

Cross-functional team collaboration is a critical aspect for the success of any

business project. Whether a company is working on a new product, corporate
initiative or marketing campaign, getting employees from different
departments to share ideas is important. And to ensure all key employees are
involved, regardless of where they’re located, it might be necessary to host
meetings through video calls or video conference systems.
4. INFORMATION TRANSMISSION

One of the most basic functions of a telecommunication system is

transmission of information. Using this technology people can transmit
information through  instant messaging, email and more. These modes of
communication can allow users to gather, analyse, share and synthesize
information in a variety of ways. With proper data transmission channels, a
business can easily coordinate the major functions of the company to steer
performance and success.
5. CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Telecommunication is an important part of any business or organization's

customer support. Using a robust call management system, it can be easier to
handle incoming calls from different customers. The customer support team
won’t even need to worry of busy lines as calls can be routed to other
employees with skill and expertise to deal with the issues. Customers are
always free to make inquiries, complaints and recommendations through
telephone lines or emails. That plays an important role in reinforcing
business-customer relationship.
6. MARKETING AND ADVERTISING
The growth of telecommunication technologies has really transformed the
way businesses market and advertise their products and services.
Nowadays, a company can advertise or market its products through
telephone calls, social media networks and other online-based platforms.
By sharing commercial images and videos over telecommunication
platforms ca business can help expose the target audience to its products
and services.
7. BUSINESS REPORTING

Creating annual reports is one of the ways of showing how a company

has progressed over a certain period of time. A business might have
several branches all over the globe and may need to assess the reports
from each station. The only viable way to get a real-time update of the
progress report and discuss it can be through video conference system.
Presenting a report through a video conference, particularly a
telepresence system, can make the presentation lifelike and sharing of
report files more convenient.

TRENDS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Early telecommunications networks did not use computers to route traffic
and, as such, were much slower than today’s computer based networks.
Major trends occurring in the field of telecommunications have a significant
impact on management decisions in this area. You should thus be aware of
major trends in telecommunications industries, technologies, and
applications that significantly increase the decision alternatives confronting
business managers and professionals.
INDUSTRY TRENDS
The competitive arena for telecommunications service has changed
dramatically in recent years. The telecommunications industry has changed
from government-regulated monopolies to a deregulated market with fiercely
competitive suppliers of telecommunications services. Numerous companies
now offer businesses and consumers a choice of everything from local and
global telephone services to communications satellite channels, mobile radio,
cable television, cellular phone services, and Internet access. The explosive
growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web has laid a host of new
telecommunications products, services, and providers. Driving and
responding to this growth, business firms have dramatically increased their
use of the Internet and the Web for electronic commerce and collaboration.
Thus, the service and vendor options available to meet a company’s
telecommunications needs have increased significantly, as have a business
manager’s decision-making alternatives.
TECHNOLOGY TREND
One of the major trend in telecommunication technology is a change from
reliance on copper wire–based media and land-based microwave relay
systems to fibre-optic lines and cellular, communications satellite, and other
wireless technologies.Fibre-optic transmission, which uses pulses of laser-
generated light, offers significant advantages in terms of reduced size and
installation effort, vastly greater communication capacity, much faster
transmission speeds, and freedom from electrical interference. Satellite
transmission offers significant advantages for organizations that need to
transmit massive quantities of data, audio, and video over global networks,
especially to isolated areas.
BUSINESS APPLICATION TREND
The changes in telecommunications industries and technologies just
mentioned are causing a significant change in the business use of
telecommunications. The trend toward more vendors, services, Internet
technologies, and the rapid growth of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and
corporate intranets and extranets, dramatically increases the number of
feasible telecommunications applications. Thus, telecommunications
networks are now playing vital and pervasive roles in Web-enabled e-
business processes, e-commerce, enterprise collaboration, and other business
applications that support the operations, management, and strategic
objectives of both large and small business enterprises.
TRANSMISSION MODES
Transmission mode means transferring of data between two devices. It is also
known as communication mode. Buses and networks are designed to allow
communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected.
There are three types of transmission mode:-
 Simplex Mode
 Half-Duplex Mode
 Full-Duplex Mode
SIMPLEX MODE
In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way
street. Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit, the other can only
receive. The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel to send
data in one direction.
Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors. The keyboard can only
introduce input, the monitor can only give the output.
Half-Duplex Mode
In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at
the same time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and
vice versa. The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for
communication in both direction at the same time. The entire capacity of the
channel can be utilized for each direction.
Example: Walkie- talkie in which message is sent one at a time and
messages are sent in both the directions.

Full-Duplex Mode
In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. In
fullduplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link
with signals going in other direction, this sharing can occur in two ways:
 Either the link must contain two physically separate transmission paths,
one for sending and other for receiving.
 Or the capacity is divided between signals travelling in both directions.
Full-duplex mode is used when communication in both direction is required all
the time. The capacity of the channel, however must be divided between the two
directions.
Example: Telephone Network in which there is communication between two
persons by a telephone line, through which both can talk and listen at the same
time.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS
In telecommunications and computer networking, a communication channel, or
channel, refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a
logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel.

WIRED TECHNOLOGY
• Two-Wire Open Line
• Coaxial Cable • Twisted Pair Line
• Fiber Optics
TWISTED PAIR CABLE
Ordinary telephone wire, consisting of copper wire twisted into pairs (twisted-
pair wire), is the most widely used medium for telecommunications. These lines
are used in established communications networks throughout the world for both
voice and data transmission.
COAXIAL CABLE
It consists of a sturdy copper or aluminum wire wrapped with spacers to
insulate and protect it. The cable’s cover and insulation minimize interference
and distortion of the signals the cable carries. Groups of coaxial cables may be
bundled together in a big cable for ease of installation Coaxial cables are also
used in many office buildings and other worksites for local area networks.
FIBER OPTICS
It uses cables consisting of one or more hair-thin filaments of glass fiber
wrapped in a protective jacket. Fiber optics speed is hundreds of times faster
than coaxial cable and thousands of times better than twisted-pair wire lines.
Fiber optics also has a much lower data error rate than other media and is harder
to tap than electrical wire and cable. Fiber-optic cables have already been
installed in many parts of the world, and they are expected to replace other
communications media in many applications.
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES
 Terrestrial microwave
 Communications Satellites
 Bluetooth

TERRESTRIAL MICROWAVE
Terrestrial microwave involves earthbound microwave systems that transmit
highspeed radio signals in a line-of-sight path between relay stations spaced
approximately 30 miles apart. Microwave antennas are usually placed on top of
buildings, towers, hills, and mountain peaks, and they are a familiar sight in
many sections of the country.
COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES
These also use microwave radio as their telecommunications medium.
Typically, high-earth orbit (HEO) communications satellites are placed in
stationary geosynchronous orbits approximately 22,000 miles above the
equator. Satellites are powered by solar panels and can transmit microwave
signals at a rate of several hundred million bits per second. They serve as relay
stations for communications signals transmitted from earth stations. Earth
stations use dish antennas to beam microwave signals to the satellites that
amplify and retransmit the signals to other earth stations thousands of miles
away.
BLUETOOTH
A short-range wireless technology called Bluetooth is rapidly being built into
computers and other devices. Bluetooth serves as a cable-free wireless
connection to peripheral devices such as computer printers and scanners.
Operating at approximately 1 Mbps with an effective range from 10 to 100
meters, Bluetooth promises to change significantly the way we use computers
and other telecommunication devices.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROCESSORS
Telecommunications processors such as modems, multiplexers, switches, and
routers perform a variety of support functions between the computers and other
devices in a telecommunications network.
MODEMS
Modems are the most common type of communications processor. They convert
the digital signals from a computer or transmission terminal at one end of a
communications link into analog frequencies that can be transmitted over
ordinary telephone lines. A modem at the other end of the communications line
converts the transmitted data back into digital form at a receiving terminal.

INTER-NETWORK PROCESSORS
Telecommunications networks are interconnected by special-purpose
communications processors called inter-network processors, such as switches,
routers, hubs, and gateways.
 A switch is a communications processor that makes connections
between telecommunications circuits in a network.
 A router is an intelligent communications processor that interconnects
networks based on different rules or protocols, so a telecommunications
message can be routed to its destination.
 A hub is a port switching communications processor.
 Workstations, servers, printers, and other network resources are typically
connected to ports. Networks that use different communications
architectures are interconnected by using a communications processor
called a gateway.

MULTIPLEXER
A multiplexer is a communications processor that allows a single
communications channel to carry simultaneous data transmissions from
many terminals.

 FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

In frequency division a multiplexer effectively divides a high-speed
channel into multiple slow-speed channels.
 DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM)

In division multiplexing the multiplexer divides the time each terminal

can use the high-speed line into very short time slots, or time frames.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK ALTERNATIVES
Telecommunications is a highly technical, rapidly changing field of information
systems technology. Most business professionals do not need a detailed
knowledge of its technical characteristics. However, it is necessary that you
understand some of the important characteristics of the basic components of
telecommunications networks.
 Terminals such as networked personal computers, network computers, net
boxes, or information appliances. Any input/output device that uses
telecommunications networks to transmit or receive data is a terminal,
including telephones and the various computer terminals.

 Telecommunication processors which support data transmission and

reception between terminals and computers. These devices, such as
modems, switches, and routers, perform a variety of control and support
functions in a telecommunications network. For example, they convert
data from digital to analog and back, code and decode data, and control
the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the communications flow between
computers and terminals in a network.

 Telecommunication channels over which data are transmitted and

received. Telecommunications channels may use combinations of media,
such as copper wires, coaxial cables, or fiber-optic cables, or use wireless
systems like microwave, communications satellite, radio, and cellular
systems to interconnect the other components of a telecommunications
network.

 Computers of all sizes and types are interconnected by

telecommunications networks so that they can carry out their information
processing assignments. For example, a mainframe computer may serve
as a host computer for a large network, assisted by a midrange computer
serving as a front-end processor, while a microcomputer may act as a
network server in a small network.

 Telecommunications control software consists of programs that control

telecommunications activities and manage the functions of
telecommunications networks. Examples include network management
programs of all kinds.