communication technology

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY: THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY
Big changes have been brought to organizations since the initiation of technology in communication. The traditional ways of communicating like the use of snail mails for sending messages, typewriters for documenting important files, and the dependence in the use of landlines and even messengers or runners for delivering messages that need to be delivered immediately to clients or shareholders: these have all been reliable and these have all been quite successful. Can these old ways of communicating suffice and help organizations survive?
During these modern times, living is faster, innovations are the trend, and work is thrice the load it was before. Most of the time, people in the organization do not have time to engage in real conversations even just to relay job-related messages to their colleagues. So what do they do instead? They use the different communication technologies that are now present in modern organizations. They use intranets, internet, messengers, emails, fax, phone, computers, memos, bulletin boards, virtual chats. Time is very important nowadays because it is nonrenewable and keeping up with today’s fast life is just so hard unless one knows how to manage time. The time spent in going up and down through floors, relaying messages to clients, answering important statements, can now be saved with just an email, a fax, a phone call, or even just a text message away.
What really are the advantages of communication technology for today’s organizations? First is, mediating technology links the independent units of the organization or different types of customers. In organizational activities, easy access from one department to another for immediate information can be done now. Also, a manager can easily respond to the changing needs of his employees and of his clients. Moreover, shareholders of the company can easily be informed with the use of these communication technologies especially if an immediate action is needed. There is no need for any formal letter anymore that still needs to be typed and reproduced to be given to the board members. A memo can now be easily sent through the email or through the intranets of the organization.
Another advantage of these communication technologies is the instant marketing through online bulletin boards like blogs. There are many businesses which grew because of blogs; examples are Chynna Ortaleza’s silver accessories and Cupcakes by Sonja. Those have been promoted through blogs. As mentioned in a magazine, Cupcakes by Sonja was just starting when a customer thought that the cupcakes were really good. The customer wrote it on his blog, sharing the experience of his first bite and how delicious the cupcakes were. Many of his friends have read about it and they went to the café to have a sample of the cupcakes. These people also wrote about it on their blogs and it went on and on until Cupcakes by Sonja already established itself. It is now one of the most favorite cupcake café by sweet lovers. Before, it was just word-of-mouth marketing, but now there is also the word-by-blogs promotion or publicity; a proof that there is also innovation in written communication. These instant promotions can even be more powerful than press releases on broadsheets and magazines because almost everyone now has access to internet. Also, a lot of people are more interested in reading blogs than broadsheets because they are more informal and not boring to read.
Also, communication technology allows people to multi task. Like the popular advertisement of PLDT MY DSL BIZ. Many people had themselves connected with it so that they can monitor their business anytime at any place. They can engage in other activities like their leisure activities or engage in their other professions, at the same time, they will easily know any problems occurring or whatever is happening to their businesses.
Of course there are disadvantages with using communication technology. The heaviest and probably the soon-to-be source of problems is the dependence on communication technology. Most of the time, because of the wonders and easy life these communication technology offers, people forget what it’s like to have a nice coffee with friends, having face-to-face conversation instead of just a text message asking one another how do they do.
Communication technology is always an opportunity either for the organization or for the individual. It opens up many choices for people and not just limit them with a certain task, a certain way for doing things, or a restricted connection with other people. Communication technology offers the individual and the organization access to the world outside it; access to the environment influencing its existence. The only reason which makes it a threat is complete dependence on it. Knowing how to use it reasonably, especially when interacting with people, it will make life easier especially during these times where slowness could not just be practiced.