Benefits of internet technologies

Benefits of Internet Technologies Running a business in today’s competitive business world requires the establishment to be up to date in the technology fields. Even for the smallest businesses it is important to have some sort of network. There are two types of Internets, business Intranet and consumer Internet. Consumer Internet is where all the social networks, videos, music, and other interests that people have that access the Internet from home. Intranet is a network inside of the business that allows employees to share and communicate information to other business operatives despite any distance separating them. Communication is a key operation when running a business and if there is troubles communicating then there will be troubles within the business. The internet offers e-mail and instant messaging which allows co-workers to communicate instantly and to send important information. This will benefit the business by lowering phone usage and time spent on the phone trying to get the correct information or waiting on faxes to come through. With e-mail however employees can attach documents and other important data which can be sent instantly. In addition instant messaging allows more than one user which can provide file sharing and a conference like meeting instead of trying to gather employees and take them away from their work. An intranet is an internal organizational network that allows access to the company data and it creates network applications that run on different computers throughout the company. The intranet is private and can only be accessed by designated users that the company sets up and is similar to the World Wide Web. Sales and marketing can benefit from intranets by always being able to quickly access information that is vital to this department. They will be able to look up production information, marketing projections, sales reports, and even look at what competitors are doing. Intranets will help human resources by keeping track of all the employees and positions that need to be filled. It will also help in reducing the amount of paper that is used by being able to upload things such as employee handbooks, job listings, benefits that is offered, and other information that would be helpful to employees. In addition they would be able to put applications on here so that it is all done electronically and employee training could be done here too. Manufacturing and production can benefit from this system by creating production schedules. Also they will be able to track and manage inventory and parts used and where they were used at and what for. In addition to Intranets the company can set up an Extranet to help track customers and suppliers that will enable customers to place orders directly online. This will help keep track of invoices and which orders have been filled and which ones have not been filled so that no orders are lost or forgotten about. The first internet tool recommendation would be Voice over IP which is a popular platform that uses voice transmission. Employees that use a desktop computer would be able to make and receive calls as long as they have a microphone and speakers or a Voice over IP telephone. This will help reduce the cost of communication, long distance charges, and monthly charges from phone companies for private lines. It will also create faster communication between employees because there would be no need to multitask by holding a phone in one hand and using the computer with the other. The flexibility of VoIP is another benefit, it can create a conference call by clicking and dragging the names of employees and voice mail and e-mail can be stored in a single directory. A virtual private network (VPN) is another internet tool that would benefit the company. A VPN is a secure network that provides encrypted communication that has a lower cost than other communication providers. The benefit of having a VPN is that emails can be sent without the risk of it being intercepted by outside sources trying to obtain the information that is being sent. This also provides a network infrastructure that combines voice and data networks. It also allows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol which encrypts packets of data and incases them inside IP packets which hides the contents of the message. By providing employees with a wireless network it will allow them to take advantage of voice and data communication capabilities along with internet access without having to be wired to a modem. This will help save staff time and increase profits within the organization by allowing the employees to have access to the network without having to go find a computer that is hard wired into the network. Bluetooth is another wireless technology that can be taken advantage of. Wireless phones, printers, computers, and other computer devices can use this wireless technology to communicate with one and other. Bluetooth also requires less power to operate which will help reduce power costs. References Laudon, J. P., & Laudon, K. C. (2008). Essentials of management information systems (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.