Business communication means

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail uses telecommunications equipment to send written messages to people within the organization or at other firms. It is cheaper that long-distance phoning and faster than the postal service. The message is sent to a computer terminal where it can be read at any time. It is quick and easy to send the same message to multiple people. This saves time and money. People no longer have to call each other by phone and hope that the other person is in. Now the messages are sent instantly, and the other people will get them as soon as they turn on their computers. 75% of internal phone calls don’t reach the intended party and 60% don’t require conversation. Electronic mail maid it possible to make contact every time.

Facsimile Machines

Can you imagine putting a piece of paper into a copy machine and having the copy turned up in an office half way around the world? That is what facsimile (fax) machines do. A one-page letter can be sent coast-to-coast in 20 to 30 seconds for about 30 cents. This is probably the fastest-growing communications innovation in industry today. These machines enable you to send a letter or longer document to someone and have that person receive it immediately. They can also act as desktop copiers.

There are portable fax machines available for your car. PayFAX machines are like phone stations that hang on the wall. You use a PayFAX like a payphone from 20,000 units in cities around the world. A recent twist in fax technology is fax-back. Callers simply indicate what information they want from a company – a sales brochure, for example, – by pushing keys on their phones. They then key in their fax numbers, and the data are on its way.

In 1990, Star Signal introduced the first fax machine that can send full-color pictures. The next generation of fax machines is expected to be the cordless fax. Like the wireless computer, the cordless fax will use radio waves.

Fax modems are modems that allow you to send messages from your computer to other people’s fax machines. Most people find it easier to use a stand-alone fax machine, however. The most limiting feature of a fax modem is the fact that you can only send data you have on file in your computer. If you want to send a printed document that is not on your computer using a fax modem, you must either enter the data by hand, by keying them in from the keyboard or by scanning the document with an optical scanner (a device that translates printed material so that a computer can understand and manipulate them).

Market Fax

Market fax is changing the way businesses get information in the hands of people who want it. Instead of mailing brochures or even manually faxing printed information to potential customers, you can now fax customers a menu of options such as “Press 101 for a price list. Press 102 for information on our financing packages.” and so forth. Customers can call back and press the appropriate number on their phones to have the information they want faxed to them immediately.