COLLEGE OF ARTS, SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE AND TAXATION

Course Code: ACC309: Course Title: Management Information Systems: Units: 3.

1ST Semester 2022/2023 Session: Lecturer: Dr. J. I. Ugwulali:
Tel: 08022238303 (Emails: joseph.ugwulali@calebuniversity.edu.ng and iugwulali@gmail.com)

Lecture 4 - Information Technology and Office Automation

4.1 Personal computer-based office automation

Technology has changed the way things were seen and done in the past. In the area of office
automation, personal computer-based office automation software has become an essential part
of many processes in many countries. Word processing programs have replaced typewriters;
spreadsheet programs have replaced ledger books; database programs have replaced paper-based
electoral rolls, inventories and staff lists; personal organizer programs have replaced paper
diaries; and so on.

Starting with basic, cumbersome word processing and spreadsheet programs in the 1970s, by the
1990s office automation programs had become very sophisticated. These programs have served
to empower ordinary office workers by enabling them to complete tasks in-house that once had
to be sent off-site to be completed by specialists.

For example, desktop publishing programs allow relative novices to produce professional-
quality publications, where once even the simplest of typesetting tasks had to be sent to
professional typesetters and printers. Database and spreadsheet programs running on high-
powered personal computers allow ordinary users to input, store and use data in ways that once
would only have been possible on large main-frame computers operated by specialist
programmers.

4.2 Types of Office Automation Software

A typical 'suite' of office automation software could include some or all of the following kinds
of programs:

i. Word Processor
ii. Spreadsheet (Excel)
iii. Database
iv. Desktop Publisher
 v. Project Manager
vi. Presentation
vii. Computer File Manager
viii. Email
ix. Internet Browser
x. Internet Publisher
xi. Personal Organizer
xii. Financial System
xiii. Personnel System

Many books, magazines and websites can help you choose office automation software suitable
for your purposes. In many cases, office automation software will be provided with the
appropriate hardware, either as part of the purchase agreement or as part of a government
standard.

4.3 Using Office Automation Software

It is desirable that all users of office automation software be trained in their use. In most countries
external training providers will be available. Some electoral authorities may be able to provide
in-house training using its own skilled staff. Most software packages also come with user
manuals (paper and/or on-screen) and many come with self-paced on-screen tutorials.

Modern office automation software is very powerful. Skilled users can develop very
sophisticated products. For example, an electoral authority could use office automation for:

 producing all or most of its publications in-house, including books, brochures, forms
and newsletters
 composing, editing and printing all correspondence in a standard corporate style,
incorporating automatic printing of logos and corporate uniform
 developing computer-generated presentations for projection on overhead screens for
seminars and training purposes
 entering, storing and using electoral roll data
 automating various parts of the election process, such as issuing and receiving postal
votes
 capturing and analyzing election results data
 storing and manipulating employee records
 automating large scale personalized mail-outs to clients and staff
 keeping inventories
 maintaining a corporate web site and an internal intranet
 planning and monitoring all aspects of a major project
 organizing a financial management system
 sending individual and grouped electronic mail to internal staff and external clients
  sharing files across a network

4.4 Applying Standards to File Names and File Structures

As the use of office automation software expands, the need to apply standards becomes more
and more important. Where many users are sharing systems and files, it is important to ensure
that files are stored in logical locations using a standard set of file naming conventions.

Computer files are generally stored in folders. Folders can be 'nested' in other folders so that
subsets of files dealing with specific subjects can be located in folders within other folders
dealing with a broader subject. For example, a folder called 'Finance' could include within it
folders for the previous financial year, the current financial year and the next financial year. Eac h
of those financial year folders could be further broken down into folders called 'Administration
costs' and 'Staff costs'.

Folders should be set up in a logical manner familiar to all users. In order to maintain logical
consistency, it may be desirable to limit rights to create folders to systems administrators.

Logical consistency should also be used for individual file names. Up until the end of the 1990s,
most computer systems limited filenames to an 8-digit name with a 3-digit suffix separated by a
dot (the suffix indicating to the computer system the type of the file), with no spaces or upper
case letters permitted in names. For example: 'annrep99.doc'. By the end of the 1990s, it became
possible to use longer file names incorporating spaces and upper and lower case letters, thereby
facilitating the use of more self-explanatory file names. For example: 'Annual Report 1999.doc'.

In order to assist users to name files consistently, and, importantly, to allow the original creator
and other users to find those files again, it is useful to establish naming conventions. It may also
be useful to create index files that could be used to give more detail about files so that the right
file can be located.

4.5 Upgrading Office Automation Software

Off-the-shelf office automation software is regularly upgraded. Upgrades typically are released
every 2-3 years for most popular products. Upgrades generally provide more powerful versions
of existing features, provide some new features, and fix known problems in previous versions of
the software. (Notoriously, upgrades sometimes have their own set of new problems or 'bugs',
which can be fixed by the next upgrade.)

Upgrading software can be expensive, and electoral administrations need to judge if and when
they should upgrade their software. One way to avoid this dilemma is to lease software rather
than purchase it, and include automatic upgrades as part of the lease agreement.

If an administration's current software suite is performing acceptably, there may not be any
compelling reason to upgrade it as soon as an upgrade becomes available. One reason for
delaying an upgrade is to wait for other users to identify problems with the new software, that
can be fixed by the software developers using 'patches'.

Unfortunately there will be pressure on an administration to upgrade its software as clients and
other organizations it deals with move to the upgraded version. While upgraded software is often
'backwards compatible', meaning that the new version can read files created under the old
version, it is often the case that the old software cannot read files created using the new software.
When this becomes a significant problem, it is time to upgrade.

While in some cases it may be desirable to delay upgrading, in other cases, the new features
presented by an upgrade may make the expense of an upgrade worthwhile.

4.6 Data Communication, Computer Networks/Internet

Data communication is the movement of coded data and information from one point to another
by means of electrical, or electromagnetic devices, fibre-optic cables, or microwave signals. IT is
equally called teleprocessing, telecommunications. In data communication, there must be the
sender, receiver, of communication as the main components of the system. Many technologies
are used in the channels, but the most common is the telephone line.

Data communication Schematic

Source: Google Images

A network is a group of interconnected computer systems sharing services and interacting by

means of a share communications link. In a peer-to-peer environment, it may be described as a
group of computers connected to each other (in some cases, with a server) such that can share
resources such as document, files and /or printers.

Networking is a way of connecting more than one computer under the same or different
operating environment, at different location possibly far distances, using the same or different
medium of information exchange and protocols, with the aim of sharing information, data, and
other resources. By this illustration computer communications is to do with the transfer of
information by:
 Direct connection by cable of two computers.
 Connection of two computers via the public telephone system or other
telecommunications links.
 Networking of a number of computers.
"Telecommunications" means 'communications at a distance'. Telecommunications technology
embraces radio waves travelling through the air or through space, electrical waves flowing along
a telephone wire, and laser pulses travelling along optical fibres.

4.7 Reasons for computer Communications

There are a number of reasons why you might want to connect your computer with others:
a) To transfer files between your computer and a different type of computer with
incompatible disks. For example, you might wish to transfer a document written on a PC
to an Apple Mac running a DPT system.
b) To send messages to people with other computers, and to receive messages from them.
This is called electronic mail or E-mail for short.
c) To join user groups or mailing lists, which is a kind of on- line bulletin board.
d) To access information stored on other remote computers, such as sales, inventory, and
other internal information in the case of your organization=s computers, or financial and
economic information in the case of public system.
e) To update your organization=s computer files when you are away from base.
f) To share files with other users in your office or organization.
g) Hardware and software requirements for computer communications
h) To get your computer communicating with another, you need communications Software
and a suitable cable.
i) If you wish to carry out these communications via the telephone network, you need a
modem.
j) To network your computer to others in your office, you need a local area network.

Let us look at each of these.

Communications Software. A large number of communications packages are available,
especially for the PC, and some of these are in public domain (and therefore free). Notable public
domain packages are Kermit and Procomm. And by imploring the appropriate network operating
systems software, users of these machines can share disk storage, printers, programs, and data.

Modems. The word modem is short for modulator/demodulator, terms used to describe a device,
which enables you to send and receive signals via a telephone carrier ware. If you want to
communicate with other computers via the telephone line, you have to convert your computer's
digital output to an analogue (i.e. wave-like) telephone signal, and convert the incoming
analogue signal to digital computer input. Hence the need for a modem, linking your computer to
the telephone socket.

Multiplexor is a device that combines input signals from many computers and sends the
combined signal along the communication channel.

The Channel.
This is the transmission medium that carries data between the sender and the receiver.
Channel occasionally comes up in LAN.

Local Area Networks.

LANs are used to link up a number of computers and other peripheral devices on the same site.
Local Area Network-network within a building or an office apartment, these computers are
hardwired.
They enables users to share applications software, data files, peripheral such as printers, and
common services provided by the network manager such as daily file backup. A LAN consists of
a single cable laid around the site, with sockets along its length for connecting the computers,
printers, and other devices.
Data from the devices is sent round the network in small chunks or packets, each of which
includes the address of the destination machine. In other words, LOCAL AREA NETWORK
(LAN) is a system of hardware, Software and Communication Channels that connects devices in
close proximity, such as in a building housing an institution such as WAEC or JAMB
Headquarters in Lagos and Abuja respectively.
The LAN permits the movement of data (including text, voice and graphics images) between
mainframe computers, personal computers, terminals, I/O devices and PBXs.
WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN):- This covers a wide geographical area such as a Nation or
a Continent or even the whole World.

TELECOMMUNICATION:- telecommunication encompasses not only data communication

but any type of remote communication, such as Transmitting a Television signal.
WORKSTATION: A powerful desktop computer designed to meet the computing needs of
engineers, architects, and other professionals who need detailed graphic displays; in a LAN, a
workstation runs application programs and serves as an access point to the network.

TRANSMISSION METHODS
Transmission modes determine the one-way or two-way traffic flow between devices. There are
three methods of transmission, these are listed below:
i.) Simplex,
ii.) Half-duplex and,
iii.) Full-duplex method.

i.) Simplex moves data in one direction only. One device sends and one device receives just like
radio and television communication.
ii.) Half-duplex in contrast, allows two-way communication, but only one way at a time devices
take turns sending or receiving, similar to CB radio communication.
iii). Full-duplex: To communicate in both directions simultaneously, we use full-duplex mode.
Separate transmission signals prevent simultaneous communication from interfering with each
other. Conceptually, a full-duplex line is equivalent to two simplex lines, one in each direction.

PROTOCOLS - communication requires a strict set of rules or procedures, called protocols

for maintaining communication. Protocols define the technical details of communication, such as
rules for initiating conversations, steps followed for sending and receiving, control characters,
dialog procedures, and error detection techniques. Protocols are sometimes built into the
hardware by the manufacturer. If two devices do not use the same protocol, they cannot
communicate with each other.