Telecommunications as the Delivery Wheel

CIS 5313Spring 2003

What is Telecommunications?

• Telecommunications is the communication of information by electronic means, usually over some distance. A great deal of telecommunications is digital data transmission in which computers transmit data from 1 location to another.

What Is Telecommunications? (cont’d)

• A Critical Business Resource.

• An Increasing Number of Voice and Data Products and Services.

Basic Components of a Telecommunications System

• Computers• Terminals• Other input/output

devices• Communications

channels

• Communications processors– modems

– multiplexers

– controllers

– front-end processors

• Telecommunications software

Examples of Telecommunications

• E-mail

• Voice mail

• Facsimile (fax) machines

• Digital information systems

• Teleconferencing

• Videoconferencing

• Dataconferencing

What is the significance of Telecommunications?

• Telecommunications combines high speed digital networks in a worldwide scope which is accessible to the general public. Telecommunications networks utilize formal telecommunications standards to physically interwork globally.

Three Significant Telecommunications Examples (Trends?)

• Internet - network of networks

• Integrated Voice-Data Applications -

examples include voice mail, call detail reporting

• Groupware - Software that provides functions and services

that support the collaborative activities of work groups.

Benefits

• Cut Communications Time.• Improve Coordination.• Off-Load Clerical Costs.• Improve Data Input Accuracy and Reduce

Liability.• Offer New Products or Services While Providing

Value.• Gain Higher Company and/or Product Visibility. • Reduce Direct Marketing Expense.

Implementation Factors

• Distance

• Range of Services

• Security

• Multiple Access

• Utilization

• Cost

• Installation

• Connectivity

, the Telecom King• Shiva (1998) remote network access technologies

• Level One (1999): communications hardware

• Dialogic (1999): telephony hardware and software

• Softcom (1999): semiconductors for network hardware

• Net Boost (1999): solutions for networks

• DSP Communications (1999): cellular technologies

• Artisoft (1999): acquired right to Visual Voice telephone product line

• Parity Software (1999): suite of telephony development tools

“These merger strengthen Intel’s position as a key supplier to the converging Internet and telecommunications industry. Our goal is to make Intel servers the foundation of e-business andcommunications applications based on integrated voice and data networks.”

Craig BarnettIntel President

• Intel• IBM• Nokia• Toshiba• Ericsson• Lucent• Compaq

• Axis• Motorola• Qualcomm• 3COMPalm• Dell• Puma Technologies• VLSI

Telecommunications Mission

• The mission of telecommunications is to provide effective and efficient electronic movement of ALL forms of information between various combinations of people and business equipment.

• It must support business strategies and accommodate growth and changes in the business environment.

Telecommunications Modes

Communications

Example: Telephone PeopleExample: Automated Customer Service Systems

1 2

Machines

Machines

People

34Example: Automated Inventory Ordering SystemsExample: Automated Stock

Quote Reminder

Specific Telecommunication Challenges

• Connectivity and Compatibility.

• Performance (Processors, Bandwidth, Storage)

• Cost.

• Control.

• Ease of Use.

Determine a Profile of TC Users

• User connectivity needs vary or are consistent.

• Network access is continuous or on demand.

• Response time

• Information volumes vary from big to insignificant.

• User work is individual or shared.

Determine a Profile of TC Users (Cont’d)

• Data Security Can Be an Issue.

• The Location of Use is a Single or Multiple Locations.

• Technical Skills of Users Can Range From Low to Very High.

Additional TC Considerations

• Application Specific Networks Need To Be General Highways--As OPEN as possible

• Acceleration of Technology Change is Accelerating the Frequency of Network Changes--Must be able to Adapt

• Networks Change by Evolution, Not Revolution--Large Investment; Unwillingness to Change a System that Works

• Is a Hot New Technology Here to Stay?--Which to Pick?

Additional TC Considerations (Cont'd)

• Facility Wiring Continues To Be Important.• The Carrier Service Landscape is Changing--

Competitive• Open Systems: Philosophy Versus Practical

Business Needs• Business Needs Dictate Final Decisions.

Telecommunications Media

Conducted Media Radiated Media

Electrical Conductors Radio FrequencyWires Broadcast Coaxial Cable Microwave

Satellite

Light Conductors Light FrequencyFiber Optics Infrared

Telecommunications Media Selection Criteria

• Cost

• Speed or Capacity

• (Bandwidth)

• Availability

• Expandability

• Error Rates

• Security

• Distance

• Applications

• Maintenance

Data Management

• 1. Data Capture--How to Ecopy• 2. Indexing and Defining the Data--How to

Organize• 3. Compression/Storage--How to Store?• 4. Access and Retrieval--How to Find Indexed

Info?• 6. Transport--Capacity of Transmission Lines• 7. Data Presentation--Paper or Monitor

Mapping Telecommunications

• Information Systems has become enterprise-wide systems analysis

Mapping Telecommunications

• Measuring- Multi-vendor and Multi-Product Connectivity

• Information System Architecture- Evolving ?

• Distributed Systems, Cooperative Processing, and Client-Server

• Open System and Standards

Multi-Vendor and Multi-Product Connectivity

• Cost-Effective Network Represents Number of Challenges

• Incompatible Systems- The Single Vendor Dilemma

• Affordability of Integration

IS Architecture

• A blueprint that depicts how future systems will be designed and built. The various systems components are explicitly defined so that multiple people can build systems around the same base line.

Information Systems Architecture Evolving?

• IS becoming more like a manufacturing process

• Effective enterprise is essential

• System architecture a direction no an end point

Three System Alternatives

• Distributed systems: multiple processors that share a network

• Cooperative processing: applications are processed on multiple processors and this is transparent to the user.

• Client-Server computing: A network shared by multiple processors involving split processing with specialized purposes.

Client Server Computing“The Best of Both Worlds!”

• Better performance

• Shared Data

• Easier to use

• Sense of Ownership

• Good Modularity (expand and contract)

• Applications implemented faster

• More cost effective

Are Open Systems a Pipe Dream?

It would be so nice if the vendors could battle it out over CPU performance and let us worry about which hot box to buy.

Mark FrutigVP of Technologies and DevelopmentFirst National Bank of Chicago

Open Systems and Standards

• Open Systems- will allow various software applications to run on a wide range of computers tied into multiple communication networks.

• Goals- open systems support the ability to- any user, any workstation, any application, any system, any network.

Open Systems Environment

Software

Applications

5. Software Development Tools

Other Services 1. Operating System

2. Communication Services

6. SystemsManagement Services

3. Database

4. User Interface

Figure 11-4

Internet

• What is it?

• What do you do with it?

• Who owns, runs and controls it?

• How big is it?

• How did it become what it is?

• What will it be like in the future?

Internet

• A Network of Networks.

• Growth Driven by E-Mail

• A Surprising Architecture for Its Time!

• Uses Standards Because they Work.

• Relatively Easy to Link to It.

• Will Become Commercialized.

• Does this Suggest Privatization?

Internet• 1969 First four nodes (UCLA, SRI, UCSB and Univ. of

Utah on ARPANET (DOD sponsor)

• 1971 Fifteen nodes.

• 1972 Thirty-seven nodes (all universities)

Main traffic had become E-mail!

• 1973 First TCP draft as an international effort.

• 1977 Started using TCP/IP to link other networks.

• 1978 Finalized TCP/IP after four iterations.

• 1980 TCP/IP became preferred military protocol.

• 1984 National Science Foundation created NSFNet.

• 1985 marked start of growth in TCP/IP products.

• 1986 exponential growth of Internet began.

• 1989 ARPANET became a victim of its success.

• 1991 World Wide Web was developed at CERN.• 1993 January - Mosaic released by NSCA (free!)• 1993 December - New York Times Article and

demand for Mosaic exploded.

• 1993 December - Marc Andreessen left MSCA.• 1994 April - Jim Clark founded Netscape and

hired Marc Andreessen and his pals.• Issue - Mosaic versus Microsoft as the hypertext

standard?

Bell & Pipe

• Major Customers - Miller Brewing, Disneyland and Frito Lay.

• Need for Vendors to place orders On-line

• Need to cut costs, reducing error and decreasing paperwork

• Web site developed

Bell & Pipe

• Features included:– 24 hour ordering– Advanced catalog search capabilities– E-mail shipping status notification and

confirmation– Ability to track orders

Results

• Low Cost, pain free implementation and maintenance

• Reduced paperwork and errors

• Increased efficiency

• Reduced operating costs

• Increased sales potential

• Improved customer management

Ernst & Young Report

• 1998 - 23 % of shoppers did at least 10% of shopping online

• 1999 - 67% of shoppers expect to do at least 10% of shopping online

• 1998 - 4% of shoppers did more than 50% of shopping online

• 1999 - 19% of shoppers expect to do more than 50% of shopping online.

So who’s buying?

• 59% are women

• 58% are married

• 58% are age 30 to 49, 23% are over 50, and 19% are 18 to 29.

• 58% are from the middle income bracket, earning $30,000 to $69,000.

A Telecommunications Perspective

Voice Data

Efficiency

Effectiveness

CompetitiveAdvantage

VoiceApplications

PCs andApp. Packages

Voice Applications plus linkage

Systems Linkage

Integrated Voice/Data Applications

Objective

Transmission Volumes

Voice Message Volumes

Figure 11-5

Lotus Notes

• The most important software tool in the new era of client-server computing.

• The second significant wave in desktop computing.

• Enables people to collaborate with one another and to share knowledge or expertise unbounded by factors such as distance or time-zone differences.

• Provides a democratization of information.

Groupware Elements Can Vary

• E-mail

• Calendaring and Scheduling

• Collaborative Document Handling

• Group Decision Support

• Conferencing

• Audio/video/desktop Meetings

• Group Application Development

• Work Flow and Project Management

Groupware

• Can improve and positively transform communication.

• Creates documents faster, easier and in better quality.

• Opens new doors through better access to data.• Enables better, faster decisions that can

transform the business.• Enhances resource utilization.• Results in a faster evolution of skills, expertise

and culture changes.

The Impact of Groupware

Cooperative work-group computing can be a central part of a process of business transactions at the level of the work group, which can, if managed, achieve spectacular benefits. To achieve such benefits, business processes must be redesigned, organizational change managed, and benefits harvested.

Conclusion

• The telecommunications industry has applications that are not merely attractive: they are world altering. They create brand new possibilities for people in their daily lives. In the future, this industry will definitely meet every challenge, founded on principles of competition and relying on free markets to an extent this without precedent.

References

• dotcomadvisor.com

• intel.com

• Netsales.com

• Bluetooth.com

• Competitive Advantage through information technology by Jack D. Callon