Communications and Networks Computing and Information Science

Electronic Communication Electronic Communication is the process of sending and receiving electronic messages. Electronic messages include electronic mail, text messaging and file transfer.

Text Messaging The technical name for Text Messaging is SMS (Short Message Service) Text messages are short messages up to 160 characters long which can be sent from one mobile phone to another through a messaging centre As well as mobile phones, Text messages can also be received on devices such as pagers and some palmtop computers.

Sending a Text Message To send a text message you need: Mobile Phone An account with a service provider To be in an area of sufficient signal strength to communicate with the service provider. One key on a mobile phone has many functions. A typical text message might include abbreviations which require fewer key presses.

Sending a Text Message Some examples of abbreviations could be: 2 To/too bcnu Be seeing you pls Please Predictive Text tries to anticipate what the user will type. Once the message has been composed, sending the message is just a matter of selecting the recipient mobile telephone number from the stored list on the mobile phone and selecting send.

E-Mail Electronic-Mail is a way of sending and receiving text-based messages over a network. Both the sender and the recipient have an email address which identify them on the network. Electronic mail is used mostly for sending letters, but anything which can be saved to disk can be sent by email, such as graphics.

What is required for E-Mail A computer system Software - an email client program or an Internet browser An electronic mail address or mailbox Access to the Internet if the email is going outwith the local area network.

What is required for E-Mail Software - an email client program or an Internet browser. Email client programs can be used to send and receive email. These allow you to: see a list of all messages in your mailbox by displaying the subject, time and date select a message and read the email create new messages and send them set up folders to manage your email keep an email address book add attachments to messages you send

What is required for E-Mail Webmail It is much more convenient to access email from any computer that has an Internet connection. Webmail allows you to access email using an Internet browser program like Internet Explorer. Hotmail is an example of Webmail

Advantages of E-Mail Email is much faster than sending a letter by post (snail mail) Email is very accessible, since you can check electronic mail from anywhere in the world There is no need to worry whether the person you are mailing is there to read the message because it will be stored by the system. Email is cheaper than sending a letter by post. You can send the same email to lots of different people at once. Less paper is involved, not all emails need to be printed.

Disadvantages of E-Mail You must check your mailbox regularly for the system to work Email can be impersonal because there is much less interaction between the callers. Email is not as secure as the postal system. Junk email is a huge problem. Junk email or spam is email from strangers or companies whom you have not asked to send you anything.

Netiquette Netiquette is short for network etiquette. Etiquette is used to describe a certain way to behave. Netiquette is concerned with the way email messages are written and how others might interpret them.

Netiquette :-) :-( A number of rules have been set up. Keep your messages short and to the point. Be careful about the language you use in a message. Use smilies (emoticons) to your messages to show your emotions. :-) :-( Avoid using capital letters as this is classed as SHOUTING.

Attachments If you want to send somebody a file, you can ‘attach’ it to an email This means that the file is sent along with your email When your email is received, the attachment can be saved by the recipient Beware of opening attachments from people you don’t know. They may contain viruses. It is always a good idea to use a virus scanner on any attachments.