1. The Electronic Office Some supplementary information Corporate websites Office automation Company intranet

2. Corporate Websites A Corporate website can be used to give the public information about an organisation – like an electronic prospectus. A website might include some of the following features: Company services – background information/history of the company How to contact them – tel/fax #s, email form, postal address, map Support – download new software, answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting guides CEO Blog – a weblog giving information about how the company is run What is a weblog?

3. Company Intranet A Company intranet allows the employees to exchange data and find up-to-date versions of documents when needed. Features could include: Manuals – and other documents for staff training and support Tools – and other interactive resources embedded within webpages Front End – to databases and other information systems What is an intranet?

4. Office Automation An integrated approach to office automation enables users to easily share data between applications. Word-processing – a common format to make communications between departments easier, a house style for all corporate documents Spreadsheets – can export data and charts to word-processed documents and can be used to model business Databases – common datafiles cut down on problems arising from redundant data, report formats can be re-used within departments and results shared across the company intranet Presentations – can be quickly built from a word-processed outline, a corporate template can ensure consistent quality Email – can cut down on lost/delayed paper memos

5. What is a weblog? A weblog is an online journal, updated regularly. As it is based on a content management system, it does not need a great deal of technical expertise to set up or maintain. As the data in the blog is held in a database, it can be re-formatted and linked to in a variety of ways. It can also be easily shared with other websites, which can be automatically informed about new data uploaded to it.

6. What is an intranet? An intranet is a locally available set of resources, accessible in the same way that a website would be, but only by the users of a specific network. It uses the same protocols as the world wide web (eg TCP/IP http etc) and is accessed with the same tools (eg a web browser). Information stored on it may be company information that would not normally be made public. Staff manuals and other documents that need to be regularly reviewed, can be updated regularly without wasting paper. Users may also be able to communicate with eachother by internal email or instant messaging.