Some practical aspects of office communication

Communication takes many forms, some oral and some written, from face-to-face conversations, meetings and the telephone to typewriting and the teleprinter. Communications are conveyed in many ways from dictated tapes to pneumatic tubes, radio to messenger services. Which method to use depends upon circumstances and the factors on which to judge whether any particular way is to be preferred to another may be given as follows:

1. Speed: How important is it that the communication reaches the recipient in the shortest possible time? Will a delay of one hour or one week have any effect on the use of the information conveyed? An hour’s delay might cost a life in medical circles; a week’s delay in the delivery of a circular will normally be insignificant.
2. Accuracy: Some forms of communication are notoriously inaccurate compared with others. Examples are telephone conversations com­pared with letters, verbal instructions conveyed through a third party compared with a memorandum and, particularly, rumour compared with official notices.
3. Impression: In many cases the impression created in the mind of the recipient is of utmost importance. The ways of creating impressions are limitless and range from face-to-face contact by the managing director with an important customer to an obviously duplicated first reminder to a slow payer (to create the impression that this is a routine reminder to the forgetful). The impression of urgency and importance can be generated by sending a cable although a telephone call would be quicker.
4. Circumstances: These include the distance between the parties, the purpose of the communication, the question as to whether the parties are at fixed points or not and so on. For example, communication between a service department and its mobile engineers may call for short-wave radio.
5. Safety: Some forms of transmission are more secure than others – for instance, registered post against ordinary letter mail. Sometimes evidence of delivery is needed, which may be provided by registered or recorded mail or a receipt collected by a special messenger. The ease or difficulty in replacing or reconstructing the document if lost is also involved under this heading.
6. Copy: Many communications require the retention of a copy for records purposes, others do not. There is a tendency to copy absolutely everything, which should be resisted, but a large propor­tion of the communications carried on in an organisation do require copies to be kept. Normally this would be as a reminder of what was written, but occasionally as proof or to provide legal evidence. Where an exact copy is essential, some form of written communication is required of which an exact duplicate is made at the time of prepara­tion. This is usually done by taking a carbon copy, preferably signed by the signatory to the original. Copies made by other means, such as photocopying, may need certification of authenticity if required for legal purposes. Notes made of a verbal exchange may be suspect if the two parties’ notes disagree. Even a mechanical recording of a verbal discussion may not be accepted as evidence where doubt can be thrown on the identity of the recorded voice. The type of copy kept, therefore, will depend upon the possible subsequent use to be made of it.
7. Confidence: Much communication is confidential and for the eye or the ear of the recipient only. In these cases a method of communica­tion must be chosen which will give conditions of secrecy. In ordinary correspondence marking the letter and the envelope ‘Confidential’ (or, preferably, ‘Confidential and Personal’) is usually sufficient, but in some cases more stringent precautions must be taken. Some means can never be taken as secret. The postcard, cable or unsealed envelope are obviously not, but neither is the telephone nor the unmarked letters even if addressed personally.
8. Expense: The cost of communication is a factor that has to be considered, though it should be secondary to any of the previous seven mentioned. Speed usually costs money and, therefore, the fastest means should be used only where essential. Unfortunately modern conditions cause us to think in terms of speed, a habit which should be resisted in considering methods of communication. The cost of any form of communication includes not only the prime cost of materials but also the expenses of labour entailed in originating the communication, depreciation of machinery, rent of office space and so on. In addition, there are factors to be taken into consideration that cannot be costed. Thus, the cost of correspondence by letter involves not only the value of the dictator’s and typist’s time, the paper, envelope and stamp, but also the cost of providing the typewriter and the space it occupies, as well as consideration of the delay in receiving a reply to any questions asked. This last may be insignificant or important depending upon circumstances.

1. Verbal Communication

The most primitive means of communication is that of face-to-face conversation and yet, generally speaking, it is still the most effective. This is because in these circumstances not only the spoken word is being used to convey meaning, but also verbal inflection, facial expression and physical gesture. In addition, there is an interaction of personalities and immediate feedback of the effect of the conversation or discussion on the other party. This enables the persons concerned to adjust their words and arguments as the communication proceeds.

This form of communication is, therefore, admirably suited to delicate negotiations and to circumstances that call for persuasion or explanation. Impression and prestige are also involved in communicating in this fashion. Thus, in some sales situations a personal call by the managing director of the vending company on that of the potential buying company will be considered the proper means to effect a sale, where impression, prestige and persuasion may be deemed necessary: a letter, even from the chairman of the board, would not have the same effect. At the other end of the scale, a request from a worker for a rise in pay, or the need to discharge a long-service member of staff, both call for face-to-face communication, for obvious reasons.

In the normal day-to-day running of an undertaking, also, it is usual to employ verbal conversation to carry on most procedures and the issue of written memoranda should be kept to a minimum.

Another effective type of face-to-face verbal communication is that of the meeting frequently used in industrial concerns to afford a means of communication between management and workers. Perhaps the best- known meetings are the annual general meetings of business and other organisations, usually required by law, at which the managing body can convey to members information of various kinds and at which members can communicate to the managing body their opinions and feelings about the matters raised.

Many sorts of meetings are held within organisations to convey or receive information, particularly as a preliminary to formulating courses of action. Sales meetings and conferences are held to communicate ideas on sales campaigns, meetings of departmental heads are held to inform about company progress and the interaction of departmental efforts on other divisions of the business and for other purposes as indicated in the previous chapter.

Where records are required of the business transacted (in some cases prescribed by law) these take the form of minutes which are accepted as true and faithful records unless the contrary can be proved.

2. Telephone Communication

Where verbal communication is required, for discussion or for speed, the alternative to direct personal contact is contact by telephone. This provides some of the advantages of face-to-face communication – for instance, verbal expression to convey fine meaning, immediate feedback, discussion and some impact of personality – but lacks the visual associa­tions such as facial expression and gesture. Nevertheless, it is of extreme importance in modern communication systems and is the only alternative to physical meetings where discussion or explanation is needed and where points of view have to be considered quickly.

Telephone facilities can be divided into two classifications, though these can overlap to some extent. These are external and internal telephone systems.

2.1. External telephones

In Britain these are in general provided by British Telecom and give means of telephonic communication between the subscriber and any other person or organisation connected into the telephone network. Thus, by means of the external telephone facilities, it is possible to have verbal communication with a supplier in the next street or with a customer half-way across the world.

An external telephone installation can be very simple, consisting of one instrument connected directly to the telephone exchange and suitable for only the smallest organisation to an extensive installation comprising hundreds of exchange lines and thousands of internal exten­sions. Great care should be taken when planning an installation in order that it will fit the needs of the organisation that is to use it: a well-designed installation will be efficient and economical whereas a badly planned one will be costly and inefficient in use.

The telephone authority has a number of standard wiring arrange­ments which have been developed over a long period to satisfy the majority of requirements, but should no standard plan be suitable in any particular case special arrangements can be provided if they are tech­nically possible. The normal procedure is to rent all the equipment from British Telecom, which proves very satisfactory in many cases, but many large concerns buy their own equipment from the manufacturers and rent the exchange lines and facilities only. In these cases the equipment manufacturers are able to tailor the apparatus to the exact requirements of the user.

Where certain numbers are dialled repeatedly British Telecom offer a number of devices which will dial these numbers automatically at the touch of a button, so speeding up the dialling process. The time saved by using such equipment can be quite significant.

The two principal types of switchboard must be mentioned: these are the private manual branch exchange, known as PMBX, and the private automatic branch exchange, known as PABX.

PMBX: This type of switchboard requires an operator for all traffic, incoming, outgoing and internal extension calls. It is expensive in terms of operator’s time and is slow. However, it does permit the detailed monitoring of all telephone usage, which can be useful where a great number of long-distance calls are made.

PABX: This allows outgoing and internal extension calls to be dialled direct by the users, the operator’s intervention being necessary only to route incoming calls. Thus it is inexpensive of operator’s time and is much speedier than PMBX. Possible abuse by staff of the telephone facility can be minimised by such devices as ‘barred access’ where certain extensions cannot dial direct, or ‘route restrict’ where only local calls can be dialled from extensions.

These switchboards are installed in telephone systems where up to 300 or more extensions are required. They are not ideal for small instal­lations with, say, only up to thirty or so extensions. In these cases the new highly developed digital key system is to be preferred.

2.2. Key systems

Here each extension telephone can be a complete switching switchboard so that anyone can answer an incoming call and no special operator is required: all the switching is carried out by pressing code keys on the instrument. It provides practically all the facilities of a PABX, and can, if need be, be connected into a PABX system. Key personnel or key departments would normally be the only ones to have the switching telephone, and its main advantage is that callers can be answered with the minimum of delay because they do not have to await the attention of a switchboard operator.

2.3. Cellular telephones

Before leaving external telephone facilities it is necessary to mention the radio-telephone. This is a facility provided by the telephone authority whereby a telephone can be installed in a car, or other moving vehicle, which has a radio link enabling it to be connected into a public telephone exchange and through this to any subscriber on the public network. Travelling executives and others can be kept in touch with by telephone even when travelling.

Previously the radio-telephone operated within a restricted area because of the limited range of the radio frequencies used. However, this difficulty has been overcome by the introduction of the cellular tele­phone. In this system the country is divided up into areas, or cells, which are served by their own receiving/transmitting service. As a vehicle crosses from one cell to another the calls are automatically transferred to the new cell. In this way the original limiting factor is overcome. The cellular telephone system, besides providing mobile facilities country­wide, is also smaller and lighter than the older radio-telephone and so can be used in almost any situation. Moreover, it can be connected into any of the facilities available to the fixed telephone. This service must not be confused with the purely internal radio-telephone which is used as a means of staff intercommunication only.

2.4. Internal telephones

Where the amount of internal telephone traffic is heavy, the use of PABX for this purpose ties up the telephones and may interfere with normal external calls, particularly those coming in. In addition, where circumstances are such that constant reference to another department is required during a conversation with an external call the switching on and off necessary with PABX may be very inconvenient. In these cir­cumstances an independent private internal telephone system meets the case. These vary from very small installations linking only two or three extensions to very large ones involving hundreds of extensions, some connecting with other buildings many miles apart.

The smallest installations normally provide direct access from exten­sion to extension by means of push-buttons on the instruments them­selves. Larger installations provide dialling facilities by means of a small private automatic exchange termed a PAX. With this equipment many more extensions can be accommodated according to the capacity of the auto-switching unit.

2.5. Voice messaging

Before leaving telephone communication mention must be made of voice messaging, or voice mail as it is also called. In its simplest form it consists of a telephone answering machine that records messages whilst the recipient is absent. However, this concept has been developed and expanded.

Essentially, with voice mail incoming calls are switched to a computer file in the telephone system where they are recorded and can be accessed by a special code when the intended recipient is available. British Telecom call their service ‘Voicebank’ and make a special point that this facility is very advantageous for users of cellular telephones since these instruments might be switched off at a time when messages are sent because the recipient is away from the car or is unavailable for some other reason.

The major drawback to voice messaging is its high cost so for a long time it may be restricted to large-volume users. However, against the money cost must be set the convenience of not missing telephone calls (it is reckoned that the percentage of calls making useful contact first time is extremely low) and a consequent saving of time, money and frustration.

3. Written Communication

Written communication can also be divided into external and internal. External written communication

Letters make up the overwhelming majority of external written com­munications (a) because they are the most familiar method and (b) because they satisfy most of the factors previously mentioned – namely, accuracy, secrecy, record, impression and reasonable safety. They are not, however, cheap mainly because they consume considerable time in dictation and transcription.

Transmission of written communications is normally done by the Post Office which provides a very wide range of services to cope with most postal problems. A comprehensive guide to these services is given in the Post Office Guide, the current issue of which should be consulted when occasion arises.

Internal written communication

Apart from statistics, time sheets and other specific procedural com­munications, internal written communications generally consist of memoranda which are either typed or written, frequently on special memorandum forms which make them particularly easy to identify as to sender and subject. The typing of memoranda can be a costly method because the time of both the originator and the typist are involved: it is usually more economic to provide all staff with pads of memorandum forms so that the information can be hand-written.

The transmission of memoranda requires careful thought. Ignoring mechanical methods for the moment, distribution can be either by special messenger service, calling at the various departments at specified times, or delivery can be as and when required by the juniors in individual departments. Much depends upon the size and physical layout of the organisation and the urgency of any particular memorandum. In smaller concerns a nest of pigeon-holes named by department and located at some convenient point (often the post room) can be very efficient. Memoranda are placed in the relevant compartments as necessity arises, being cleared departmentally at certain times of the day.

The pigeon-hole arrangement is also an effective way of assembling together memoranda and documents to be sent to branches by post or by company vehicles and succeeds in gathering together all communications to each destination to one ‘parcel’ rather than their going piecemeal. A similar arrangement can also be made in regard to outside representa­tives and other staff who are situated away from the office.

4. Communication by Mechanical Means

An important means of transmitting written communications quickly is the teleprinter (or teletyper). This is a keyboard machine that is linked by telegraph line to a similar machine at a distant point. When one machine is typed on the second machine simultaneously types out the same message. The teleprinter is used in two ways.

4.1. Teleprinter installations

These are private installations where the teleprinters are permanently connected to each other by direct line. The instruments themselves may be rented from the public telephone authority or may be purchased from the manufacturers: the telegraph lines are usually rented from the telephone authority. With this system messages can be passed merely by operating one of the machines which, being very like typewriters, are soon mastered by a competent typist.

Large organisations often take their teleprinter installations a stage further than direct links and set up one or more exchange offices. Using switching systems they are able to connect together any two or more machines in the network.

4.2. Telex installations

These installations use the same type of teleprinter machine as above but instead of direct connections over private lines the machines are oper­ated over the Telex exchange system of British Telecom in the same manner as the ordinary telephone, the difference being that contact is by key stroking instead of by speech. Like the telephone, telex calls can be made to anywhere in the world where a compatible telex system operates.

The advantage of using teleprinters in either fashion is that contact is as rapid as by telephone and the accuracy of the written word also obtains. Further, where communication is to an office that is closed – say to an overseas organisation in a different time zone – then messages can be left for attention directly the office reopens and without the need for transcription as occurs when a telephone-answering machine is in operation.

Whether to use a teleprinter installation or to subscribe to telex depends very much on circumstances. Large users with many branches and depots favour the switchable teleprinter installation for the following reasons:

1. There are no charges for individual calls, the only revenue costs being the rent for the telegraph lines and for the machines if they are not owned.
2. Quicker contact is made.
3. This method allows the teleprinter to be used in systems work, so speeding up routine procedures such as passing orders from sales branches to factory.

The same advantages would accrue, of course, to the simplest tele­printer installation.

Calls to and from outside concerns must, of course, be made through telex whatever the size of the organisation. The use of telex involves rent for apparatus and lines plus charges on a time/distance basis in the same manner as with the telephone. Even so, it is estimated that the use of telex is generally speaking, considerably less expensive than cables and telegrams, at the same time providing a quicker and more efficient service plus the facility of an immediate response if required.

4.3. Modern teleprinter facilities

All modern teleprinting machines have a memory, some with only a small capacity, others with a high capacity, and the most advanced teleprinters have the facility to add on auxiliary stores. Equally, the simplest machines have a limited character display similar to an elec­tronic typewriter whereas the most advanced machines have a VDU and are very like word processors. All, of course, have print-out facilities.

Because of the advanced features offered by modern teleprinters the following facilities can be enjoyed depending upon the sophistication of the equipment:

1. Messages are displayed so they can be checked before transmission.
2. The memory enables messages to be stored and repeatedly trans­mitted to different receivers.
3. Incoming messages can be received and stored during the transmis­sion of an outgoing message. The incoming message can then be viewed on the screen or printed out, or both.
4. Messages already stored in word processors or computers can be transmitted without re-keying on the teleprinter.
5. Messages for transmission can be keyed into the teleprinter and actually transmitted at a later time, perhaps to take advantage of cheap transmission times.

4.4. Teletex

This performs a service similar to telex but enables terminals such as word processors, electronic typewriters and personal computers which are otherwise incompatible to communicate with each other over the telephone network. It can also be connected into the telex network. It is of much higher speed than telex: it is reckoned that an A4 size document can be transmitted in about 10 seconds, a fortieth of the time required by telex. Teletext must not be confused with teletex.

4.5. Teletext

This is a system that permits access to constantly updated information via our television receivers using the telephone network. The best known are probably Ceefax and Oracle which provide information on innumerable topics, mostly domestic. In this form communication is one-way only, and the caller has no means of responding. However, two-way communi­cation is provided through commercial systems either private or public. Viewdata is an example of a private system, much used in the offices of travel agencies and Prestel is a public service operated by British Telecom. All systems display their information on video screens, either television receivers as in Teletext or on VDUs equipped with keyboards as with public systems.

4.6. Fax (Facsimile telegraphy)

Teleprinters can transmit and receive only typewritten matter: hand­writing, drawings, photographs and, indeed, anything not easily typed, cannot be dealt with. Where such transmissions are necessary facsimile telegraphy can be used. This entails the use of machines that send and receive images by scanning the original, converting into electrical impulses the variances of light reflected from the image and reconverting on reception. Connections can be made over very long distances using the public telephone network or private wires and also radio links where necessary. The system is very fast, a standard letter-size document taking in the region of only four minutes to transmit and receive irrespective of the amount of matter on it.

Probably the largest users of this type of equipment are newspaper offices and press agencies, who send and receive pictures of newsworthy events quickly and efficiently by this means. Industry and commerce are, however, finding increasing uses for facsimile telegraphy. With this system copying errors cannot occur and skilled operators are not required at either end. Even typed matter can be transmitted more efficiently by this means than by retyping on the teleprinter since checking is completely unnecessary.

4.7. Electronic mail

The definition of electronic mail has not yet settled down. Some authorities use the term to embrace all the means just described of transmitting written information electronically, even including Fax, whereas others limit the term to the facilities offered by teletex. Perhaps it could be described as the transmission of written messages from one point to another electronically without the use of paper.

Essentially, information originated by the sender on a terminal such as a computer terminal or word processor is conveyed over the normal telephone network to an electronic mailbox (British Telecom’s term) stored on a central computer where it is ‘sorted’ and transmitted to the recipient subscriber with an appropriate terminal. Messages may be just viewed on the VDU or printed out. Many facilities are offered to the users of this system, such as storage of messages for onward transmission to one or more recipients, linkage into the telex system and many more. So great is the development of electronic means of message transmission that new services are being added all the time. The office administrator with the requirement for rapid transmission of information would, thus, be wise to seek advice from a supplier such as British Telecom (in Britain) for guidance on the most up-to-date solution to problems arising in this field.

What has been described is the public electronic mail service. It is, of course, possible to set up a private system as is done with a private switching teleprinter service.

4.8. Telewriting

The need for the rapid transmission of handwritten messages as they are being produced has led to the development of devices which allow handwriting and original sketches to be sent over telephone wires or by radio link over short or long distances.

This need is met by tele writing. This system, of which Electro writing and Telenote are two examples, uses a small machine at both the sending and receiving stations, each with a stylus attached. The sender writes or draws on the paper contained in the machine, using the special stylus, and the image is reproduced exactly by the receiving stylus attached to the complementary machine.

Whilst a very large number of applications for this technique are in internal systems where errors in internal telephone messages could be dangerous or embarrassing, such as in hospitals or police establishments, telewriting can be used very successfully for external communications. As with facsimile telegraphy and telex, distance is no barrier to the use of the system and it is very valuable where accuracy and speed are essential and where the communication is not conducive to typewriting. Where any particular station is not required to transmit, an instrument for receiving only can be installed.

5. Mechanical Internal Conveyance of Documents

This physical movement of documents of all kinds – memoranda, tele­printer messages, contract documents and the like – is a continuing problem in all organisations. Whilst a messenger service can be used, mechancial devices for the movement of paperwork can be installed either to supplement or to replace the messenger service, with an increase in transmission speed and the elimination of delays often inherent in human delivery services.

5.1. Pneumatic tubes

This type of installation consists of large-diameter tubes which run from one office to another, through which cylindrical carriers containing the documents are propelled by compressed air.

Originally the connection was direct, but during the course of time exchange arrangements have developed. Many installations are based on manual re routing – that is to say, all tubes from the various access points lead into an exchange room where an operator accepts the carriers from the point of despatch and reinserts them into the correct tubes according to the required destinations. A more recent development is the automatic system where the carriers are equipped with devices which cause them to be switched automatically to the correct destinations, the delivery point information being set up on a dial on the outside of the carrier.

Pneumatic tubes ensure speedy delivery of internal communications and are, in particular, much used in connection with teleprinter and telex installations, as messages can be delivered to the right person with the absolute minimum of delay. After all, it is pointless to ensure the swiftest possible transmission of external communications only to have delays in their internal distribution.

The tubes and carriers are available in many sizes and besides their use as document conveyors they are also used for the internal transmission of samples from factory to laboratory for testing, for the transmission of cash in departmental stores from counter to cashier and so on.

This method of conveyance is particularly valuable because there is no restriction on the direction of movement of the carriers. Tubes can be installed at any angle, including vertically and horizontally, without impeding the efficient transmission of the carriers. Such installations are most economically installed when a building is erected, but in most cases they can also be installed in existing premises though in such cir­cumstances more expense is likely to be incurred and there may be some restrictions on the runs according to the construction of the premises.

5.2. Conveyor belts

The horizontal or nearly horizontal movement of documents can easily be accomplished by means of conveyor belts, though they are not frequently used in offices. The normal flat belt is the least convenient and the ‘V’ belt, which runs on edge and has a vertical slot to accommodate documents, is more suitable as it is much narrower. Further, with this type of belt corners present no problem and where it it necessary for a receiving point to be vacated for a short period a ‘stop’ can be placed over the belt which causes the documents to accumulate until the position is again attended.

Where the conveyance of bulky objects such as ledgers and books is required in a more or less horizontal direction belts with carrier boxes attached are often used.

Where it is necessary to take documents above or below their starting-points a drag band can be employed. This is merely a conveyor belt with a two-layer web which allows the documents to be slipped between them, thus gripping the papers for uphill or downhill con­veyance.

5.3. Document lifts

Purely vertical transmission of documents and books can be accom­plished by document lifts which are, strictly speaking, merely very small versions of standard passenger or goods lifts. They can be very valuable in offices that are many stories high but, like pneumatic tubes, are most economically installed during the construction of a building.

5.4. Gravity chutes

These can be used where nearly vertical downward movement of documents, books and so on is required. Their most common use is in connection with the night safes at branches of banks, where the night safe bag drops straight into the strong room after being ‘posted’ by the customer in the night-safe aperture in the outside wall of the bank.

5.5. Electric trucks

With the growth of the large office building extending over a wide area the need has arisen for the conveyance of quantities of papers (such as the incoming mail) larger than can be handled by the mechanical means just described, with the exception of the document lift which can be built to accommodate any required volume. This has led to the development of small electric document trucks driven by messengers. These are used in large premises for carrying large quantities of paperwork in a horizontal direction in the same way as larger trucks are used in factories for the conveyance of materials from shop to shop. Where these are used in offices they are often supplemented by the use of document lifts for the vertical transmission of the documents.

6. Staff Location Systems

Much time and money can be lost in trying to locate executives and others when they are away from their desks and urgently required, and various means of contacting them in these circumstances have been devised.

Possibly the best known is the public address system, in which loudspeakers are placed in strategic positions about the premises and announcements are made to locate members of staff wanted, through a microphone and amplifier installed in the telephone office. Whilst effective in some factories and in yards this method can cause distur­bance with work in offices and other areas where the utmost concen­tration is required. Other methods have been developed, therefore, the most common of which are described below.

6.1. Light signals

In this method light units of a combination of colours or numbers (or both) are fixed about the premises, each member of staff being allocated a code combination. The location units are normally controlled from the telephone switchboard office. When a particular person is wanted the appropriate code is flashed on all the units throughout the system. On observing the code flashing the member of staff concerned will go to the nearest telephone for information. This method is noiseless and effective but can be overlooked. To attract attention to the light signal some installations have a discreet buzzer warning as well.

6.2. Personal paging

Signal lights are nowadays fast giving way to the more modern method of personal paging, in which direct personal contact is made by means of a small receiver carried in the pocket. There are three forms of personal paging, all operated from a central transmitter usually placed in the telephone switchboard office:

1. Simple paging: This is the simplest and cheapest of the methods and merely indicates to the member of staff concerned that he or she is wanted. The signal is usually a ‘bleep’ and on hearing this on the receiver the person concerned goes to the nearest telephone to make contact.
2. One-way speech: In circumstances where the main requirement is to pass messages or instructions, particularly where personnel are un­likely to be near a telephone, one-way speech paging is useful. This has developed from the simple ‘bleep’ system and permits speech to be transmitted to the receiver but does not provide means for the transmission of a reply. It can, of course, also be used for simple paging
3. Two-way speech: This is a further development in personal paging and allows the recipient to reply in speech when called. This two-way communication is made through the central transmitter and obviates the need for the person called to go to a fixed telephone. Costs are higher than for the other two methods but convenience is much greater and the pocket apparatus itself is very little larger than that used in the simpler systems.

These three methods of staff location are operated either by radio wave or by induction loop. The induction loop is, in effect, an aerial wire that surrounds the area within which it is required to operate the paging system. It is connected direct to the transmitter and there is no connection to the receivers. The loop method has the advantage that the area of transmission is contained within the clearly defined limits of the induction loop and cannot cause interference beyond this. With the radio method, on the other hand, there are no such limits and this can be an advantage where an organisation has widely dispersed work areas. There are regulations to be complied with when using both systems but due to the wider possibility of interference with other radio transmissions these are more stringent for the radio paging installations.

6.3. Radiopaging

This term is the property of British Telecom and is used to describe the latest advance in personal paging, that is the ability to contact any member of an organisation wherever situated outside the premises. The terminals, which are pocket size, are receivers only, ranging from a simple bleeper to an instrument that can display short messages. All have memories that will hold a call until the recipient is free. They differ from cellular telephones in that they are one way only and do not allow speech.

The country is divided into forty service regions and the user- organisation may elect to restrict the use of the pagers to one or any number of these areas depending upon requirements.

An advantage applicable to these radiopagers is that calls to them may be directed to British Telecom’s electronic mailbox facility for later transmission to the pager when requested.

6.4. Two-way radio

The paging installations just discussed are all based on communication through a central transmitter. For some purposes, however, this does not meet the need, which may be for communication between two different points away from the main centre. Many instances come to mind such as the need for communication in a very large depot spanning many acres, or between various locations on a civil engineering project. This problem is solved by the use of two-way radio, once called ‘walkie talkie’ radio. The transmitter/receiver units of this system are now quite small and can be carried by any member of staff who has the need of instant communication with other members of staff in the area. Each instrument has its own individual frequency to which callers can tune and so make contact. The range is fairly limited since the equipment is of relatively low power.

Because of the restricted range of the system just described it cannot be used for locating staff operating away from the premises – people such as mobile service engineers, taxi drivers, ambulance personnel and the like. In such circumstances a more powerful installation is required which is, in effect, a short-range broadcasting system. A transmitter is located at a central point through which all communication is conducted. Outward communication from the central location can be selective so that individuals may be called, but often a blanket broadcast system is employed and the required person or vehicle is named or otherwise identified so that the other receivers will ignore the call. Inward responses and calls must all be made to the central transmitter and there is no provision for contact between individual receivers.

These radio-telephone systems are essentially private staff location installations and cannot be connected into the public telephone network.

7. Numerical Information

Much information arising out of business operations is numerical and it is necessary to communicate this in an understandable fashion, recognising that some people find it difficult to draw conclusions from tables of statistics. It is essential, therefore, to make brief reference to graphic ways of presenting numerical information.

Figure 19.1 shows a tabulation of revenue and costs relating to a trading operation. As it stands many people might find this statement difficult to interpret. Presentation graphically adds to easy understand­ing.

Examples of graphic representation are given below.

7.1. The pie chart

This is probably the most easily understood method of presenting figure information, requiring no comparisons with other figures. The illus­tration at Figure 19.2 represents the 1988 figures from the tabulation in Figure 19.1. A pie chart is often supported with a tabulation as shown but this is not absolutely necessary.

7.2. The graph

The graph is a popular way of representing trends graphically. It can be a single-line graph as in Figure 19.3 to a compound graph shown in Figure 19.4 which indicates the relationship between more than one activity. Both represent the trends drawn from the tabulation in Figure 19.1.

7.3. The bar chart

Like the graph, the bar chart shows graphically a rise or fall in values. In fact, if the tops of the bars are joined together by a line a graph will result. Figure 19.5 shows a simple bar chart, but these can be drawn as multiple charts by indicating the additional information on the bars as Fig. 19.2 A Pie Chart shown in Figure 19.6. There are, of course, other ways of graphically presenting statistics, many of them quite complicated. However, these are more properly the subject of a study in statistics.

Source: Eyre E. C. (1989), Office Administration, Palgrave Macmillan.