Business_Communication_Trends

Assignment: Business Communication Trends Communication plays a large role in my day-to-day work activities. I have to make sure information gets to the management team, to the customer, and to others in my organization. There are times when the information I am tasked with finding can cost the company thousands of dollars or show the customer that the proper procedures were followed and the fault lies with the user of the equipment. Unfortunately, the management team does not always communicate with the administrative staff as they should even though they have laptops and Blackberries. This lack of communication on the managers’ part has cost the administrative staff much time and stress. My company uses Outlook as the primary email application and the applications integrated within help me to manage my activities. The calendar is most useful because it allows other members of the business to appoint others to have the ability to see what appointments they have scheduled so we can know where they are if the customer requests their presence. The calendar also helps to remind me when I have a meeting to attend. The task application is helpful to me because I can set it up to remind me of the weekly and monthly tasks I need to accomplish so I can stay on schedule. At my current workplace the trend in communication is to go the technology route. Instead of having people travel to a meeting site many of the meetings are now being held via conference call and Microsoft Live Meeting. The asset management system we use has the ability to use hand-held devices to transmit work tickets from the system to the technicians and transmit completed tickets back to the system. Part of the idea is to save paper because now we have to print thousands of tickets a month and the amount is only going to increase. We also use direct connect to dispatch work to the technicians to try to keep phone costs down. At my previous job there was a larger market for technology and communication resources. I worked for a custom home builder and the systems that were put into the new houses were very high-tech. The owners had video cameras installed in and around the house so they could see the video from laptops and cell phones. The owners also have the ability to control the temperature, turn on the oven, control the lighting system, and many other aspects of the household. Today’s technological advances are not only making it easier for people to communicate with one another but also to keep an eye on and communicate with their house.