Router.Txt

Router A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP’s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts. Very little filtering of data is done through routers.

PABX Txt

PABX PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is a small telephone switch owned by a company or organization. These organizations purchase PBX's to reduce the total number of telephone lines they need to lease from the telephone company. Without a PBX, a company will need to lease one telephone line for every employee with a telephone.With a PABX system, the company only needs to lease as many lines from the telephone company as the maximum number of employees that will be making outside calls at one time. This is usually around 10% of the number of extensions.In a PABX system, every telephone is wired to the PBX. When an employee takes the receiver off hook (i.e. picks up the telephone) and dials the outside access code (usually 9), the PABX connects the employee to an outside line (often, though somewhat incorrectly, referred to as a trunk).

Internet.Txt

Internet
The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to: connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers; exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet; post information for others to access, and update it frequently; access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video; and access diverse perspectives from around the world. An additional attribute of the Internet is that it lacks a central authority?in other words, there is no "Internet, Inc." that controls the Internet. Beyond the various governing boards that work to establish policies and standards, the Internet is bound by few rules and answers to no single organization.

Hub,Txt

What is a Hub?A hub is used in a wired network to connect Ethernet cables from a number of devices together. The hub allows each device to talk to the others. (Hubs aren't used in networks with only wireless connections, since network devices such as routers and adapters communicate directly with one another, with nothing in between.)Hubs are such simple devices ? they require no configuration, and have no manuals ? that their function is now included in other devices such as routers and modems.

Frame Relay Txt

Frame Relay Frame Relay is a protocol standard for LAN internetworking which provides a fast and efficient method of transmitting information from a user device to LAN bridges and routers.The Frame Relay protocol uses a frame structured similar to that of LAPD, except that the frame header is replaced by a 2-byte Frame Relay header field. The Frame Relay header contains the user-specified DLCI field, which is the destination address of the frame. It also contains congestion and status signals which the network sends to the user.Virtual CircuitsThe Frame Relay frame is transmitted to its destination by way of virtual circuits (logical paths from an originating point in the network) to a destination point. Virtual circuits may be permanent (PVCs) or switched (SVCs). PVCs are set up administratively by the network manager for a dedicated point-to-point connection; SVCs are set up on a call-by-call basis.Advantages of Frame RelayFrame Relay offers an attractive alternative to both dedicated lines and X.25 networks for connecting LANs to bridges and routers. The success of the Frame Relay protocol is based on the following two underlying factors: Because virtual circuits consume bandwidth only when they transport data, many virtual circuits can exist simultaneously across a given transmission line. In addition, each device can use more of the bandwidth as necessary, and thus operate at higher speeds. The improved reliability of communication lines and increased error-handling sophistication at end stations allows the Frame Relay protocol to discard erroneous frames and thus eliminate time-consuming error-handling processing. These two factors make Frame Relay a desirable choice for data transmission; however, they also necessitate testing to determine that the system works properly and that data is not lost.

ATM

ATMShort for Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a network technology based on transferring data in cells or packets of a fixed size. The cell used with ATM is relatively small compared to units used with older technologies. The small, constant cell size allows ATM equipment to transmit video, audio, and computer data over the same network, and assure that no single type of data hogs the line. Some people think that ATM holds the answer to the Internet bandwidth problem, but others are skeptical. ATM creates a fixed channel, or route, between two points whenever data transfer begins. This differs from TCP/IP, in which messages are divided into packets and each packet can take a different route from source to destination. This difference makes it easier to track and bill data usage across an ATM network, but it makes it less adaptable to sudden surges in network traffic. When purchasing ATM service, you generally have a choice of four different types of service: constant bit rate (CBR): specifies a fixed bit rate so that data is sent in a steady stream. This is analogous to a leased line. variable bit rate (VBR): provides a specified throughput capacity but data is not sent evenly. This is a popular choice for voice and videoconferencing data. available bit rate (ABR): provides a guaranteed minimum capacity but allows data to be bursted at higher capacities when the network is free. unspecified bit rate (UBR): does not guarantee any throughput levels. This is used for applications, such as file transfer, that can tolerate delays.

Analytic Theory

Finally, there are theories of technology which are not defined or claimed by a proponent, but are used by authors in describing existing literature, in contrast to their own or as a review of the field.

For example, Markus and Robey (1988) specifically propose a general theory of technology consisting of the causal structures of agency (technological, organizational, imperative, emergent), its structure (variance, process), and the level (micro, macro) of analysis.

Orlikowski (1992) notes that previous conceptualizations of technology typically differ over scope (is technology more than hardware?) and role (is it an external objective force, the interpreted human action, or an impact moderated by humans?) and identifies three models:

1. technological imperative: focuses on organizational characteristics which can be measured and permits some level of contingency
2. strategic choice: focuses on how technology is influenced by the context and strategies of decision-makers and users
3. technology as a trigger of structural change: views technology as a social object

Group Theory

There are also a number of technology related theories that address how (media) technology affects group processes. Broadly, these theories are concerned with the social effects of communication media. Some (e.g., Media Richness) are concerned with questions of media choice (i.e., when to use what medium effectively). Other theories (Social presence, SIDE) are concerned with the consequences of those media choices (i.e., what are the social effects of using particular communication media).

• Social presence theory (Short, et al. 1976) is a seminal theory of the social effects of communication technology. Its main concern is with telephony and telephone conferencing (the research was sponsored by the British Post Office, now British Telecom). It argues that the social impact of a communication medium depend on the social presence it allows communicators to have. Social presence is defined as a property of the medium itself: the degree of acoustic, visual, and physical contact that it allows. The theory assumes that more contact will increase the key components of "presence": greater intimacy, immediacy, warmth and inter-personal rapport. As a consequence of social presence, social influence is expected to increase. In the case of communication technology, the assumption is that more text-based forms of interaction (e-mail, instant messaging) are less social, and therefore less conducive to social influence.

• Media Richness Theory (Daft and Lengel 1986) shares some characteristics with social presence theory. It posits that the amount of information communicated differs with respect to a medium's richness. The theory assumes that resolving ambiguity and reducing uncertainty are the main goals of communication. Because communication media differ in the rate of understanding they can achieve in a specific time (with "rich" media carrying more information), they are not all capable of resolving uncertainty and ambiguity well. The more restricted the medium's capacity, the less uncertainty and equivocality it is able to manage. It follows that the richness of the media should be matched to the task so as to prevent over simplification or complication.

Criticall Theory

Values in Design - asks how do we ensure a place for values (alongside technical standards such as speed, efficiency, and reliability) as criteria by which we judge the quality and acceptability of information systems and new media. How do values such as privacy, autonomy, democracy, and social justice become integral to conception, design, and development, not merely retrofitted after completion? Key thinkers include Nissenbaum (2001).

Social Theory

• Social construction of technology (SCOT) - argues that technology does not determine human action, but that human action shapes technology. Key concepts include:
  • interpretive flexibility: "Technological artifacts are culturally constructed and interpreted ... By this we mean not only that there is flexibility in how people think of or interpret artifacts but also that there is flexibility in how artifacts are designed."
  • relevant social group: shares a particular set of meanings about an artifact
  • closure and stabilization: when the relevant social group has reached a consensus
  • wider context: "the sociocultural and political situation of a social group shapes its norms and values, which in turn influence the meaning given to an artifact"

Theories of Technology

There are a number of theories attempting to address technology, which tend to be associated with the disciplines of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and communication studies. Most generally, the theories attempt to address the relationship between technology and society and prompt questions about agency, determinism/autonomy, and teleonomy.

If forced, one might categorize them into social and group theories. Additionally, one might distinguish between descriptive and critical theories. Descriptive theories attempt to address the definition and substance of technology, how does it emerge, change, and, of course, what is its relation to the human/social sphere? More substantively, to what extent is technology autonomous and how much force does it have in determining social structure or human practice? Critical theories of technology often take a descriptive theory as their basis and articulate concerns and ask in what ways can that relationship be changed? The authors mentioned in this article are those that have some concern with technology or media, though they often borrow from one another and of course build upon seminal theorists that preceded them.

Communication Theory Framework

• Mechanistic: This view considers communication to be a perfect transaction of a message from the sender to the receiver. (as seen in the diagram above)
• Psychological: This view considers communication as the act of sending a message to a receiver, and the feelings and thoughts of the receiver upon interpreting the message.
• Social Constructionist (Symbolic Interactionist): This view considers communication to be the product of the interactants sharing and creating meaning.
• Systemic: This view considers communication to be the new messages created via “through-put”, or what happens as the message is being interpreted and re-interpreted as it travels through people.

History of communication Theory

Communication as a named and unified discipline has a history of contestation that goes back to the Socratic dialogues, in many ways making it the first and most contestatory of all early sciences and philosophies. Aristotle first addressed the problem of communication and attempted to work out a theory of it in The Rhetoric. He was primarily focused on the art of persuasion.

Humanistic and rhetorical viewpoints and theories dominated the discipline prior to the twentieth century, when more scientific methodologies and insights from psychology, sociology, linguistics and advertising began to influence communication thought and practice.

Seeking to define "communication" as a static word or unified discipline may not be as important as understanding communication as a family of resemblances with a plurality of definitions as Ludwig Wittgenstein had put forth.

Communication Theory

There is much discussion in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication. Currently, many definitions of communication are used in order to conceptualize the processes by which people navigate and assign meaning.

We might say that communication consists of transmitting information from one person to another. In fact, many scholars of communication take this as a working definition, and use Lasswell's maxim, "who says what to whom in what channel with what effect," as a means of circumscribing the field of communication theory.

DIRECTOR PORTABLE PUBLIC ADDRESS
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DIRECTOR is more than just a hand held portable public address system; it can be a life saver, a vital safety tool.

DIRECTOR portable public address systems are in use with many safety aware sports stadia, factories and power plants as well as those who need to be involved in evacuation, gas or water leaks, rescues on land and at sea, traffic control and other safety operations.

LOUDSPEAKER CIRCUIT VOLUME CONTROLS

A range of 50/70/100V line remote volume controls for loads of 25, 100 and 300 watts with provision for local volume restoration for paging announcements by inbuilt 24v relay override.

Each control has been designed to provide excellent frequency response with minimum quiescent power loss, using uniquely wound auto-transformers for maximum efficiency.

VANDAL PROOF MICROPHONE VP892

VP892 is a vandal proof microphone with push switch and ‘active’ LED mounted on a UK double switchplate designed to fit on back boxes of at least 40mm depth.

The switchplate is of stainless steel with integral microphone grille designed for close talk use; the entire assembly is showerproof to IP64, including vandal resistant switch and 4mm LED, and designed for use in a public place or in a manufacturing process where vandal resistance is judged to be appropriate or heavy-handed use an expectation.

PRO-RANGE MULTIZONE, MULTIPOINT,
ZONE PAGING SYSTEM

PRO-RANGE 5 and 10 zone self cancelling Paging Points operate exclusively with a rack mounting ZRU010 relay interface and central logic processor for up to 10 zones. Systems can be cascaded. Interconnection is based on CAT5 technology.

Versatile

Communication Technology design and equipment

BUDDY DESK PAGING MICROPHONES

BUD100 Single Zone – BUD200 Two Zone

BUDDY, a simple yet robust desk paging microphone available in single and two zone versions. Featuring a gooseneck mounted microphone well known for its voice clarity in almost any operating environment, designed by Communication Technology.

BUDDY can be used in shops, offices, garages, showrooms, transport termini, wherever there is a need for an elegant, yet strong paging microphone able to withstand heavy duty use.

BUDDY has a 2.5 metre lead and requires only the fitting of an interface connector to suit the host amplifier.

Communication Portal

.Q. Connect is an Information and Communications Portal with administrative features that permit customization, news and policy distribution, messaging and policy acknowledgement. E.Q. Connect provides for the assignment of viewing privileges and restrictions. Colors, graphics, news, links, menus, policies, documents, and more are administered and managed, easily, 24/7. E.Q. Connect can be built to include or exclude the following information or features:

• Online Training
• News
• Policies and Incentive Programs
• Wellness Programs
• Employee Directories
• Career Upportunites and Job Posting
• Administrative Forms
• Policy Acknowledgement
• Alert Messages
• Detail or Overview of Benefits Programs
• Custom Designed Links to Critical Resources

The Portal

A portal is a secure, customable environment which provides information, communication and online services.

Users login and are presented with screens containing information relevant to their particular role. For example, a student will see information relevant to their being:

• a member of the Drake community (such as campus events),
• a student in a particular school or college (such as the school/college’s calendar), and
• an individual (such as their courses, grades and financial aid information)

The technology Portal

Technology is a broad concept that deals with a species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment. In human society, it is a consequence of science and engineering, although several technological advances predate the formalization of these two disciplines. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas- examples include construction technology, medical technology, or state-of-the-art technology.

The human race's use of technology began with the conversion of plentiful natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food, and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear bombs.

Telephone

The telephone is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly speech), usually two people conversing but occasionally three or more. It is one of the most common household appliances in the world today. Most telephones operate through transmission of electric signals over a complex telephone network which allows almost any phone user to communicate with almost anyone.

Mass media

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. It was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines, although mass media was present centuries before the term became common. The term public media has a similar meaning: it is the sum of the public mass distributors of news and entertainment across mediums such as newspapers, television, radio, broadcasting, which require union membership in large markets such as Newspaper Guild and AFTRA, & text publishers. The concept of mass media is complicated in some internet media as now individuals have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable to what was previously restricted to select group of mass media producers. These internet media can include personal web pages, podcasts and blogs.

The communications audience has been viewed by some commentators as forming a mass society with special characteristics, notably atomization or lack of social connections, which render it especially susceptible to the influence of modern mass-media techniques such as advertising and propaganda. The term "MSM" or "mainstream media" has been widely used in the blogosphere in discussion of the mass media and media bias.

Advertising

Advertising is a one-way communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain them. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet (see Internet advertising), and billboards. Advertising is often placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company.

Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messages and in-store public address systems. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio.

Instructional design

Instructional design is the practice of arranging media (communication technology) and content to help learners and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively. The process consists broadly of determining the current state of learner understanding, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some media-based "intervention" to assist in the transition. Ideally the process is informed by pedagogically tested theories of learning and may take place in student-only, teacher-led or community-based settings. The outcome of this instruction may be directly observable and scientifically measured or completely hidden and assumed

audio-visual design

The term audio-visual may refer to works with both a sound and a visual component, the production or use of such works, or the equipment involved in presenting such works. Movies and television shows are examples of audiovisual presentations.

Business presentations are also usually audio-visual. In a typical presentation, the presenter provides the audio by speaking, and supplements it with a series of images projected onto a screen, either from a slide projector, or from a computer connected to a digital projector using software such as PowerPoint.

television

Television (often abbreviated to TV, T.V., or more recently, tv) is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance from all around the world. The term may also be used to refer specifically to a television set, programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele (τῆλε), far, and Latin vision, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person).

Radio

Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. It does not require a medium of transport. Information is carried by systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves, such as their amplitude or their frequency. When radio waves pass an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. This can be detected and transformed into sound or other signals that carry information.

journalism

Journalism is the discipline of gathering, writing and reporting news, and broadly it includes the process of editing and presenting the news articles. Journalism applies to various media, but is not limited to newspapers, magazines, radio, and television.

While under pressure to be the first to publish its stories, each news media organization adheres to its own standards of accuracy, quality, and style — usually editing and proofreading its reports prior to publication. Many news organizations claim proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions accountable to the public, while media critics have raised questions on the accountability of the press.

The word journalism is taken from the French journal which in turn comes from the Latin diurnal or daily; The Acta Diurna, a handwritten bulletin, was put up daily in the Forum, the main public square in ancient Rome, and was the world's first newspaper.

technical communication

Technical communication is the process of conveying usable information through writing or speech about a specific domain to an intended audience. Information is usable if the intended audience is able to perform an action or make a decision based on its contents (Johnson-Sheehan 7). Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products (deliverables) for various media, including paper, video, and the Internet. Deliverables include online help user manuals, technical manuals, specifications, process and procedure manuals, training, business papers, reports, etc

the internet

The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).

Graphic design

1. Graphic design is the process of communicating visually using typography and images to present information. Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated.

Multimedia

Multimedia (Lat. Multum + Medium) is media that uses multiple forms of information content and information processing (e.g. text, audio, graphics, animation, video, interactivity) to inform or entertain the (user) audience. Multimedia also refers to the use of (but not limited to) electronic media to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in fine art, but with a broader scope. The term "rich media" is synonymous for interactive multimedia. Multimedia means that computer info can be represented through audio, graphics, image, video and animation in addition to traditional media (text and graphics). Hypermedia can be considered one particular multimedia application.

Technical Communication, todays featured article

Technical communication is the process of conveying usable information through writing or speech about a specific domain to an intended audience. Information is usable if the intended audience is able to perform an action or make a decision based on its contents (Johnson-Sheehan 7). Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products (deliverables) for various media, including paper, video, and the Internet. Deliverables include online help user manuals, technical manuals, specifications, process and procedure manuals, training, business papers, reports, etc.
Technical domains can be of any kind, including the soft and hard sciences, high technology including computers and software, consumer electronics, and business processes and practices.
In 2006, Scott, Longo, and Wills (SUNY) in their edited collection Critical Power Tools, suggested that technical communication should be analyzed through a cultural studies lens, thus minimizing technical communication's hyper-pragmatic stance. Technical communication jobs include the following: