Electronic Mail as a Business Tool

E-mail has distinct advantages over alternative messaging methods. It is faster than the postal service, and faster and less expensive than courier services. There are also drawbacks to the e-mail system, such as possible security threats, and the need for user training time. These factors cannot be ignored by businesses switching to this system (Dologite, 1992, 184-185).

The computer has developed over the past forty-five years, first slowly, and then with great rapidity as new developments signaled changes in structure and operation. Computers have become smaller and more powerful to the degree that now many people hav

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munication. Electronic mail and conferencing serves as an equalizer, or a democratization of both personal and professional communication, and a certain degree of anonymity and a crossing or ignoring of the more traditional channels of communication is allowed. Participants who are less outspoken in a traditional conversations or meetings may feel more comfortable about exploring ideas or speaking out on issues when using email, and this may also encourage the deemphasis of professional position or status as well. EMail shares the temporary, convenient, and volatile attributes of telephone or spoken conversation. At the same time, though, it is as permanent a medium as the written word. A unique feature of email is the ease of redistribution of the message in its original or an altered form, and ownership of the message or its content is fuzzy at best (Goode and Johnson, 1991, 61-62). E-mail creates a number of problems as well. For one thing, there is no one e-mail system in use, and instead there are dozens of e-mail systems, each speaking its own language, and in many ways isolated from all the others. The industry is moving toward adopting a universal language, though, in the form of the X.400 and X.500 standards.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
MCI Mail, AT&T Mail, X400 X500, San Francisco, Privacy Act, Sprint AT&T, Goode Johnson, Intel Corporation, Data Center, Internet Bitnet, electronic communications, online services, means communication, email system, email systems, at&t mail, goode johnson 1991, originally developed, receive mail, services bbss, mci mail, law privacy protection, send receive mail,
Approximate Word count = 2043
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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