COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

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Generally communication means sending information from one person to another. Data communication
can be broadly described as the transmission of data from one place to another via transmission channels.
Transmission channels are the different media that can be used to move data. Some of the most
commonly used data transmission channels are telephone lines, coaxial cables, fibre optic cables,
microwave links and communication satellites and posting.

Data communications are used in a variety of ways, the most important being;
• Enquiry/response
• On-line data entry (transaction processing)
• Remote job entry
• Conversational time sharing
• Distributed processing

Data Communication Devices

• Computer
• Television
• Telephone
• Fax
• Beeper
• Walkie talkie

Examples of Communications
• Two people talking on the telephone
• A sale department sending a fax to a customer
• Using a modem and a terminal to contact a remote computer e.g. internet

Television:

Videotext is the term for any information system which uses a computer to transmit data to user’s
screens. Teletext and viewdata are both examples of videotext.

Teletext (text at a distance) is used to refer to transmission of data such as news, weather, sport reports,
stock market quotations, airlines and train schedules, TV guides e.t.c. via the television. The customer
has an adapted television set and the information is displayed as pages of text. The receiver can receive
data but cannot send it back.

Examples of teletext

• The BBC system-called CEEFAX

• The ITV system –called TELETEXT
• Similar systems on satellite

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Telephone: There are various types of telephones, cell phones and landlines. Telephone technology has
changed much in recent years. The phones have various features like voice mail and diverting systems

Advantages
• Tone of voice helps communication
• Immediate contact
• Can be used everywhere (cell phones)
• WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled phones allow Internet and email connection.
• Allow recording for evidence (cell phones).

Disadvantages
• Time zone problems between countries
• Lack of hardcopy for evidence

Fax
Fax (short for facsimile) is a widely used method transmitting the contents of the documents using
ordinary telephone. The fax machine at one end scans the document and converts the image into
telephone images. The fax machines at the receiving end uses these signals to reproduce a copy of the
documents. The document sent can include both pictures and text. Fax messages can also be sent to and
from microcomputers.

Advantages
• High speed compared with letters
• Convenience and simplicity – a mixture of written messages and prepared information with no more
trouble than making a phone call.

Disadvantages
Faxed printouts are sometimes of poor quality
It is relatively difficult to computerize faxed information

Cellular phones
Cellular phones or “cell” phones can be used as normal telephones to make or receive calls and also send
and receive text messages. The latest cell phones allows you to send and receive e-mail and digital
photographs , access the internet for small pieces of data such as addresses, stock quotes and match
scores.

THE INTERNET
Internet is a computer network made up of networks worldwide. The computers here are connected
worldwide via a huge set of telecommunications link. There is no specific person who owns the Internet
but rather there are organizations that maintain it through their websites.

How the Internet works

For the Internet to work there is the need for both hardware and software.
Hardware: consists of the following
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 - pc/workstation
- modem: converts digital data from the computer to analogue data that can be transmitted through
a telephone line
- communication link e.g. A standard telephone line, cable, satellite etc.

Software: Need the implementation of browser and Transmission control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP).
Browser: This is software required to display web pages. It converts the Hypertext Markup language
(HTML) pages into the visual form intended by the web page designer. Browsers can also run programs
called APPLETS (little applications) and SCRIPTS, which make pages more interactive.
The TCP/IP is a set of rules that defines computer’s interaction or communication with others to transfer
data from one computer to another over the Internet.

A computer on the network is made available through Internet Service Provider (ISP) e.g. in Botswana
we use Botswana Telecommunications Cooperation (BTC). ISP is a company that is directly connected
to the global network and gives access to internet.

Difference between Internet, Intranet and Extranet

INTERNET INTRANET EXTRANET

• Global network • Private network i.e. has an • A private network
• Network of networks owner (Intranet) accessed by
• Accessed by public • Accessed by authorized users outside the
• Security of data is low people only within the company
due to access by public company • It is also privately
• Security of data is high owned
• Security of data is also
high

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 SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE INTERNET
• E-Mail: Electronic mail or e-mail allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange
messages. These messages sent can arrive within a matter of seconds. Each user has a mailbox address
where these mails are sent.
Advantages of email over an ordinary way of sending a letter
Email:
1. Is fast to send and receive messages
2. Reduces costs of buying stamps and envelopes
3. Saves time as one does not have to go around shopping for stamps and envelopes
4. Mail can be received at anytime and anywhere unlike the post box one where one has to go to the
post office to receive

Disadvantages
1. It is not accessible to every individual as it is very expensive to install the Internet.
2. Email is not secure as people can read your messages
3. There is a high risk of your computer being hacked, attacked by viruses as these are usually
transmitted through the internet

• Telnet
This is a program allows the maintaining of accounts on distant computers and use online database,
library catalogs, chat services, from them as if they are on your computer. To telnet to a computer,
you must know its address. This can consists of words e.g. locis.loc.gov or numbers e.g.
140.147.254.3. Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer and
in this case the port number needs to be typed after the Internet address e.g.
telnetnri.reston.va.us.185.

• File Transfers
This is both the method and the program used to transfer files over the Internet. This uses a File
Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is a set of rules that for transferring files over the Internet. It enables
the user to find an electronic file stored in the computer somewhere on the Internet and download or
upload it.

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Downloading: Taking a file from a sever or a computer on the part of the Internet and copying it to
your computer or other storage
Uploading: Sending files to other computers on the Internet.

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• World Wide Web (WWW)
This is a collection of a multimedia, hypertext documents on the computer around the world. These
computers are referred to as the clients and servers. By multimedia we mean that the documents they
contain different fonts, graphics etc and by hypertext we mean that the documents are linked to other
documents (works with links).
Clicking on these links brings that particular document located on a distant server to your screen
irrespective of the server’s geographic location.

• Search Engines

A web site used for the research of some information e.g. www.yahoo.com, www.google.com,
www.facebook.com, etc. A growing number of people are using the Internet for research. Business
people are assessing new markets, students and writers are looking for information and concerned
parents are searching for the latest facts on nutrition. The Internet is the library not only of today, but
also of the future. The quality of information on the Internet ranges from stunningly poor to excellent.
Thankfully, there are a large number of quality sites on the Net, and with a little experience, it is
fairly easy to differentiate the good from the bad.

• Newsgroups

Newsgroups act as electronic bulletin boards through which people exchange information, ask technical
questions, offer solutions, gather leads and forge new contacts. You log into a newsgroup, check any or
all of the messages that have been posted, add your own message if you wish, or simply leave. Anyone
on the Net can participate, and it’s free. With tens of thousands of newsgroups in existence, it is difficult
to imagine a subject matter that is not covered.

• Social Networks

These include websites such as facebook, twitter, etc. where the people who access them are mainly for
socializing.

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E-Commerce

Most companies are selling, buying, marketing and advertising their goods over the Internet and this is
known as e-commerce. These companies only succeed if they have a good, easy-to-navigate site plus the
ability to fulfill orders quickly.

Advantages of e-commerce over the traditional way of shopping

1. Customers enjoys buying goods at the comfort of their homes

2. Reduces the cost of traveling as customers do not have to go to the shops in order to buy
3. Customers are able to place their orders at any time of the day not being bothered by the
operational times of the stores.
4. It saves time for customers as there is little time taken when viewing adverts unlike where the
customer has to go from one shop to another trying to view products

Disadvantages

1. Not every customer has Internet therefore the service does not reach everyone.
2. Installing Internet is expensive therefore the service is only limited to those people who can
afford.
3. There is a high chance of personal information being high jacked by viruses, hackers and spy
ware.

WEB BROWSER

This is software required to display web pages. It converts the Hypertext Markup language (HTML)
pages into the visual form intended by the web page designer.

Home page: The first page that is displayed after the address has been entered

Address Bar: the textbox in which the URL address of the web page is typed.

URL: stands for Uniform Resource Locator

Hyperlink: is the URL embedded in another document so that if one clicks on the text or button then
one can explore that link.
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 What makes up the Web Address?
Protocol://host/path/filename
Protocol Domain name Path Filename
http:// www.moesd.gov.bw BGCSE Results Mater Spei College

➢ If a protocol has an “s” (e.g. - https://) it shows that the web site is secure.

In the Domain name after the dot, there are 3 letters indicating the type of the domain. Examples of
common extensions include;
- edu: educational institute or ac: academic institution
- com: commercial enterprise
- gov: government entity
- net: network access provider
- org: non-profit making organizations

For some sites a further dot and letters are available. Domain names have been assigned to identify and
locate files stored on host computers in countries around the world. These are referred to as two letter
Internet country codes e.g.
- au: Australia
- ca: Canada
- bw: Botswana
- za: South Africa
- uk: United Kingdom

What makes up an E-Mail address?

It is made up of three parts separated by @ character and a dot. e.g. matengemartin@gmail.com

The part before @ is called the username which is used to identify each individual. It is always unique
i.e. each person has his/her own username
The part after the @ character is called the domain name which identifies the computer server where
the person has a mailbox.

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After the dot is an extension which indicates the type of the domain. Examples of common extensions
include;
- edu: educational institute or ac: academic institution
- com: commercial enterprise
- gov: government entity
- net: network access provider
- org: non-profit making organizations