Computer Networks – (NET-225)

Emerging Technologies
Learning Outcomes
Instant Messaging
Cloud Computing
Mobile Networking
Communication over the Internet
Instant messaging
Instant messaging is an internet service that allows
people to communicate with each other in real time
through an instant messaging software.
Instant Messaging (IM) is a form of electronic
communication enabling ad hoc and “live”
collaboration through sending and receiving messages
almost instantaneously across a network connection
Unlike e-mail, instant messaging allows messages from
one person to appear right away on the other person’s
computer screen right after the send button is pressed.
Instant messaging cont’d
In the early 1990’s, instant messaging was often used
only by users who wanted to talk or chat with their
friends through the internet.
But as the internet technology became more
sophisticated, instant messaging became an integral
tool for businesses.
History of Instant Messages

In the early days of the internet, Mirabilis, a software

company, created the first free instant messaging
software named ICQ, which is a shorthand for “I seek
you.”
This software became so popular among internet users
that other similar software programs began popping up,
such as AIM, Yahoo Messenger and Skype.
Now instant messaging is ubiquitous in the online
world. Even Facebook garnered their initial success by
placing an instant messaging capability on their
website.
Examples of IM
whatsApp
WeChat
Viber
MSN Messenger
Yahoo Messenger
ICQ
Windows Live
Google Talk
Skype
Facebook Messenger
etc
Business Applications of Instant Messaging
The most notable benefit of instant messaging is helping
businesses stay connected in real time. Communication
and business always go together.
Executives will have to communicate their ideas to other
executives and they have to communicate with their
employees. Instant messaging provides an affordable and
convenient way for communication to take place.
But that’s not all, instant messaging technology is also
evolving to add more business-friendly capabilities to
make communication easier and more productive. Here
are some of the new instant messaging features:
Business Applications of Instant
Messaging cont’d
 Voice over IP (VOIP) service – this fairly new technology allows instant
messaging users to verbally talk to each other like they would through a phone,
except that unlike phones that use the airwaves for the transmission of voice,
VOIP transmits the voice through the internet.
 Conferencing – unlike in the past where instant messaging could only be used
between two people, modern instant messenger software allows three or more
people to talk in one chat room. This makes chat meetings possible.
 Video calls – instant messaging software today allows people to talk to each
other through video in real time.
 Video conferencing – an improvement of video calling, video conferencing
lets three or more people participate on video calling, making it possible for
meetings or learning sessions to be done face-to-face even if the participants
are physically far away from each other.
Instant Messaging and Job Outsourcing

In today’s digital age, outsourcing is becoming a popular choice

through which executives find people to work for them. Instead
of being limited to hiring people in their locality, employers now
have the option to find employees from other countries.
In the past, this has not always been the best hiring decision
because communicating with people from other countries is
expensive. However, because of instant messaging,
communication between employers and their employees abroad
is almost free, which further fuels the outsourcing and
freelancing revolution.
Instant messaging is integral in today’s business environment,
especially in the booming outsourcing business.
 Advantages of IM
 Cost Savings
 Instant messaging allows real-time communication between two people in any
part of the world without having to pay the international or domestic long
distance charges associated with using the phone.
 While many phone companies offer phone plans that allow for unlimited local
and long distance, international calls can become expensive.
 Shipping companies and freight brokering organizations benefit greatly from the
reduced cost associated with using instant messaging.
 Convenient
 If you are communicating with a business associate that is at his desk, he would
have to stop what he is doing to answer your phone call.
 The same would apply to a phone call you receive while at your desk. In many
cases, if you are at your desk, you are looking at your computer screen.
 Instant messaging allows for quick real-time conversations that are not as
disturbing as using the phone.
Disadvantages of IM
 Viruses
 An instant message connection allows the sender a way of sending you files
during your conversation.
 While this can be convenient when speaking to your business associates, it can
be dangerous if you come across a hacker or Internet criminal.
 The port left open on your desktop by an activated instant message program
invites the delivery of viruses and spyware that can damage your computer and
your entire network.
 Sensitive Information
 When you are sending instant messages to a colleague, you do not know if
someone is looking over her shoulder or reading the messages along with her.
 Instant message programs can also be hacked by criminals and your messages
can be intercepted without you knowing it.
 If you are having a conversation with someone you believe is a business
associate on instant message, and in reality it's someone else, you could be giving
away sensitive company information that could compromise current and future
projects.
Cloud computing
Introduction
Before personal computers took off in the early 1980s, if your
company needed sales or payroll figures calculating in a hurry,
you'd most likely have bought in "data-processing" services from
another company, with its own expensive computer systems, that
specialized in number crunching; these days, you can do the job
just as easily on your desktop with off-the-shelf software. Or can
you?
In a striking throwback to the 1970s, many companies are finding,
once again, that buying in computer services makes more business
sense than do-it-yourself.
This new trend is called cloud computing and, not surprisingly,
it's linked to the Internet's inexorable rise. What is cloud
computing? How does it work? Let's take a closer look!
What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing

services -- from applications to storage and processing power
-- typically over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Cloud computing means that instead of all the computer
hardware and software you're using sitting on your desktop, or
somewhere inside your company's network, it's provided for
you as a service by another company and accessed over
the Internet, usually in a completely seamless way.
Exactly where the hardware and software is located and how it
all works doesn't matter to you, the user—it's just somewhere
up in the nebulous "cloud" that the Internet represents.
Cloud computing cont’d
Read more from the tutorial shared