An Information Communications Technology Solutions Essay

Unified communications (UC) is a commonly used term for the integration of disparate communications systems, media, devices and applications. This potentially includes the integration of fixed and mobile voice, e-mail, instant messaging, desktop and advanced business applications, Internet Protocol (IP)-PBX, voice over IP (VoIP), presence, voice-mail, fax, audio video and web conferencing, unified messaging, unified voicemail, and whiteboarding into a single environment offering the user a more complete but simpler and more effective experience. Gartner states â€Å"The largest single value of UC is its ability to reduce â€Å"human latency† in business processes. † Unified Messaging (or UM) is the integration of different streams of communication (e-mail, SMS, Fax, voice, video, etc. ) into a single, or, unified ‘message store’, accessible from a variety of different devices. Unified Messaging was expected by many in the consumer telecommunications industry to be a popular product, first augmenting and eventually replacing voicemail. However, UM was slow to gain consumer acceptance, and UM vendors such as Comverse were badly hit when the slowdown in the telecommunications industry in 2001 made carriers wary of spending large amounts of money on technology with little proven consumer demand. Role of UM in Present Scenario Today, UM solutions are increasingly accepted in the corporate environment. The aim of deploying UM solutions generally is to enhance and improve business processes as well as services. UM solutions targeting professional end-user customers integrate communications processes into the existing IT infrastructure, i. e. into CRM, ERP and mail systems (e. g. Phoenixnet PH, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, SAP, etc. ) Unified communications is sometimes confused with unified messaging, but it is distinct. Unified communications refers to a real-time delivery of communications based on the preferred method and location of the recipient; unified messaging systems culls messages from several sources (such as email, voice mail etc. ), but holds those messages for retrieval at a later time. Unified messaging focuses on allowing users to access voice, e-mail, fax and other mixed media from a single mailbox independent of the access device. Multimedia services include messages of mixed media types such as video, sound clips, and pictures, and include communication via short message services (SMS). Components of unified communications Unified communications can include a variety of elements, such as instant messaging, telephony, video, email, voicemail, and short message services, all of which could be brought into real time and coordinated. The concept of presence is also a factor – knowing where one’s intended recipients are and if they are available, in real time – and is itself a key component of unified communications. To put it simply, unified communications integrates all the systems that a user might already be using and helps those systems work together in real time. For example, unified communications technology could allow a user to seamlessly collaborate with another person on a project, even if the two users are in separate locations. The user could quickly locate the necessary person by accessing an interactive directory, engage in a text messaging session, and then escalate the session to a voice call, or even a video call – all within minutes. In another example, an employee receives a call from a customer who wants answers. Unified communications could enable that worker to access a real-time list of available expert colleagues, then make a call that would reach the necessary person, enabling the employee to answer the customer faster, and eliminating rounds of back-and-forth emails and phone-tag. The examples in the previous paragraph primarily describe â€Å"personal productivity† enhancements that tend to benefit the individual user. While such benefits can be important, enterprises are finding that they can achieve even greater impact by using unified communications capabilities to transform business processes. This is achieved by integrating UC functionality directly into the business applications using development tools provided by many of the suppliers. Instead of the individual user invoking the UC functionality to, say, find an appropriate resource, the workflow or process application automatically identifies the resource at the point in the business activity where one is needed. When used in this manner, the concept of â€Å"presence† often changes. Most people associate presence with IM â€Å"buddy lists† — the status of individuals is identified. But, in many business process applications, what is important is finding someone with a certain skill. In these environments, presence will identify available skills or capabilities. This â€Å"business process† approach to integrating UC functionality can result in bottom line benefits that are an order of magnitude greater than those achievable by personal productivity methods alone. According to the International Engineering Consortium, unified communications is an industry term used to describe all forms of call and multimedia/cross-media message-management functions controlled by an individual user for both business and social purposes. This includes any enterprise informational or transactional application process that emulates a human user and uses a single, content-independent personal messaging channel (mailbox) for contact access. The essence of communication is breaking down barriers. In its simplest form, the telephone breaks distance and time barriers so that people can communicate in real time or near real time when they are not together. There are now many other barriers to be overcome. People can use many different devices to communicate (wireless phones, personal digital assistants [PDA], personal computers [PC], thin clients, etc. ), and there are now new forms of communication as well, such as instant messaging. The goal of unified communications involves breaking down these barriers so that people using different modes of communication, different media, and different devices can still communicate to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Unified communications (UC) encompasses several communication systems or models including unified messaging, collaboration, and interaction systems; real-time and near real-time communications; and transactional applications.

Senior Privileges

In the past, my high school gave more privileges to the seniors, although they have taken the privileges away from the seniors every year one by one. Currently, the only privileges seniors have over the underclassmen are leaving five minutes early for lunch and having the senior courtyard for lunch. We believe seniors should have more privileges or benefits than the school gives to us. After EHS took away senior privileges like going off-campus for lunch and leaving class five minutes early, students rebelled and started to sneak out for lunch saying they have Career Center or GHS third block. Although the administration started to notice the students coming back after thirty minutes, the students started to be dismissed to continue going off-campus for lunch. The problem with not leaving class early is that students began sneaking out of class and detention numbers increased because sneaking out is not allowed. The senior class can relate to this issue and would like to go off-campus for lunch and leave class five minutes early. The future upcoming seniors would also like the same privileges. The current seniors have looked forward to senior benefits since being a freshman. By the time the freshmen class finally reached senior status all of the privileges the previous seniors had gained were taken away due to misjudgment and carelessness. The administration’s defense is that the seniors’ of previous classes disregarded safety concerns. Although high school students normally disregard the administration’s safety concerns one of the purpose of being a senior is to understand safety before they enter the real world. Although safety is a current issue we believe seniors are capable of being careful and influencing the underclassmen of being cautious. EHS may be responsible for the students during the day; we believe that students and parents can sign a permission slip where if the student gets in a wreck while out for lunch then EHS will not be responsible for any injuries. We believe seniors understand that going out for lunch is a privilege and if there are any complaints or problems the student’s privileges can will revoked at any point of time. We believe senior privileges can be taken away if senior abuses their privileges then they will have their privileges taken. Although previous classes have acted in a way that they would have been revoked eventually the administration should consider giving privileges back to seniors. We believe having senior benefits will cut down on the discipline issues EHS may have to deal with. EHS should offer more senior privileges than mentioned above. We think administration could add a few more benefits for seniors such as having a free period during the day, if the senior has A’s and B’s they could leave campus for the period. Although it would be mandatory for students to receive permission by parents and for the students to sign out when they leave campus and back in when they come back on campus for the rest of the day. For students that do not have the required grades and permission they can use the period to study and bring up their grades to earn the right to go off campus for the period. Our idea is right because it helps rebelling out of the schools and it will slim down the discipline issues of the seniors. It will also help the seniors prepare for college or the working world next year.

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Reflection Paper - Essay Example All of these skills are involved in planning and implementing change. The first place that organizations must start in their planning process is the business plan. For some small businesses, this plan can be the most difficult to write, but once written, it will steer the organization for many years. As the business plan is written, a marketing plan and a strategic plan are other parts of the planning process. Each of these plans will need to be updated as the organization changes and grows. The very nature of planning suggests that change must happen Many organizations have had challenges with planning for many reasons. Some organizations are so involved with the day to day operations that they feel they have no time to plan. Others do not plan because they know it means change and they are afraid of what change may bring to their organizations. Some organizations know they should plan, but they do not understand what is involved in the planning process. These businesses may fail if they do not plan on a regular basis. An important aspect of planning is to define it so that each individual in an organization understands what they are doing. According to the Business Dictionary (2009), planning is: [The] process of identifying an organizations immediate and long-term objectives and formulating and monitoring specific strategies to achieve them. It also entails staffing and resource allocation †¦ Planning models are plentiful in the filed of leadership and organizational development. For the purpose of this reflection, two strategic planning models have been chosen for review. Every organization chooses a planning model that fits their needs. Most of these models have several components. As an example, Van der Werffs (1998) model has three phases: The SWOT model is a well known planning model that is used by many organizations. In this model, the organization

Hantavirus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hantavirus - Essay Example The N protein that introduces the virus into the cytoplasm of the healthy human cell (Mir, 2010). The N protein of the virus associates itself with the L protein of the human host and produce â€Å"capped primers† or nucleocapsids, which can initiate transcription of the viral mRNAs upon invasion of the healthy human cell. Meanwhile, the glycoproteins G1 and G2 are transported to the Golgi bodies from the ER. Once the nucleocapsids interact with the glycoproteins, hantavirions are formed and are released out of the cell through exocytosis (â€Å"Virology,† CDC, 2011). Once the virions are out of the plasma membrane, the symptoms of HFRS or HPS begin showing. The replication of the hantavirus occurs in the macrophages and vascular endothelial cells of the human lungs and kidneys (Muranyi et al., 2005). However, symptoms do not show until the replication process of a particular number of virions are finished and until these virions are released out of the plasma membrane to infect other cells. The endothelial cells of the lungs and kidneys are the main target cells of the virus. The endothelial cells are responsible for various physiologic functions of the body such as the regulation of edema, vascular repair and gas exchange (Mackow & Gavrilovskaya, 2009). Therefore, it simply follows that someone who is infected with hantavirus will have problems with these physiologic functions. The young man in the case study exhibited shortness of breath and labored and rapid breathing because the hantavirus has already invaded the endothelial cells of his lungs, which are responsible for gas exchange. Thus, the physiological ability of his lungs to handle gas exchange is impaired. According to Mir (2010), the hantavirus also infects mature and immature dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are actually responsible for capturing antigens and inducing a primary immune response among T lymphocytes (Wieder, 2003). However, the hantavirus uses

Dream Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dream Job - Essay Example In fact, from my early childhood, I have cherished assisting my peers learn new or difficult things. I always seek to lead group discussions as this gives me an opportunity to exercise my love for teaching. Thus, this job would provide me with the opportunity to practice what I enjoy. My choice of university as a place to exercise my love for teaching follows my belief that institutions of higher learning provide greater challenge to the teacher than pre-university institutions. It would be useful to appreciate that the undergraduate and postgraduate students could have greater knowledge of what is being taught than the instructor. As such, I would constantly be seeking for knowledge, thus keeping me active in the academic field. Universities stand out as institutions of higher learning where there is access to resources required to gain further knowledge, thus an advantage I would utilize to increase my knowledge. Furthermore, the diversity in the university population bringing toge ther nearly every aspect of the international outlook would provide me with the opportunity for beneficial networking. It would also be useful to appreciate that the career is well paying, the Government of Canada citing 90.1% practitioners in the field earning an annual income of greater than $50,000. Therefore, there are many push and pull factors that inform my choice of university instructor as my dream job. Even so, to achieve my dream would require a lot of hard work in my academics. As noted by the Government of Canada, a doctorate in a field of instruction would be the minimum requirement for any university to admit me as an instructor despite the huge variation in the requirements from different universities. However, it gives relief to note that holders of Master’s degree could also be considered as long as they are pursuing their doctorate studies or holders of Bachelor’s degrees with extensive experience in the area of instruction. This means

Discuss the expression theory of art, using the chapter from Essay

Discuss the expression theory of art, using the chapter from freelandbut is it art - Essay Example Sometimes these theories focus solely upon the creation process of the artwork while other theories focus more upon the receiving process of the audience. Still other theories range around the concepts between these extremes, from the way in which the thoughts, feelings, ideas or other communicated goals are transferred from the artist’s mind to the canvas, musical score or movement, captured within that medium and then transferred to an audience. As is evident from the range of these theories, the role of the individual artist has been explored, as has the role of the audience, but another aspect of the creation of art that has played a significant role in the investigation of what is art is the role of the ideologies and customs inherent in the society in which the artwork is created as well as that which is receiving it, which do not always have similar outlooks. A prime example of this can be found in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. As it was being painted, depiction s of nudes were completely acceptable and natural but only a few years later they were considered indecent and were given flowing garments to cover the more objectionable parts.2 While it has not been agreed upon which is the most important function of art, most all theorists agree that art does convey meaning either cognitively or expressively. The expressive theory of art contends that art conveys its meaning primarily through an appeal to the senses of its audience, evoking specific emotions and feelings intended either consciously or unconsciously by the artist and capable of conveying even complex ideas such as the existence of God or the power of the mind. As defined by Freeland,3 the ‘expression theory’ as it pertains to art is based on the concept that art is intended to communicate something to the viewer that is focused upon exacting an emotion or feeling. This is accomplished through careful use of line

Performance Appraisal and Job Satisfaction in the UK Essay

Performance Appraisal and Job Satisfaction in the UK - Essay Example ance appraisal is regarded as an important process, which allows the management to analyse the performance of employees working in the organization (Aminuddin 2008, Pettijohn, et al. 2001). Employees who are satisfied with their work and tasks serve as the means for improving the overall organizational performance and it is due to this reason it has been found that above ninety percent of business corporations have systems in place for monitoring performance of the workers and staff members (Seldon, Ingraham and Jacobson 2001). The performance appraisal systems are largely placed to ensure that employees are satisfied with their jobs and this is determined by their â€Å"overall performance†, â€Å"commitment towards organization† and its goals and the â€Å"turnover rate† (Vignaswaran 2008). Considering this discussion, it is important for the management to explore and evaluate the relationship between performance appraisal systems and job satisfaction of employ ees and take the necessary measures for them to improve their performance and minimize their turnover intention. This research work is aimed at exploring the impact of an effective performance appraisal system in an organization on the job satisfaction of employees. In this regard, the research explores the relationship of performance appraisal effectiveness with overall performance, commitment and turnover of employees. Chapter one explores the relationship between an effective performance appraisal system and employees’ job satisfaction in the United Kingdom, since it enables the organizations to understand the influence placed by effective performance appraisal on the overall organizational performance and job satisfaction of the employees. The objectives and the significance of the research are also... Performance appraisal is regarded as an important area of concern in relation to human resource development and management (Aminuddin 2008, Noe et al., 2009). In business entities, performance appraisal is regarded as an important process, which allows the management to analyse the performance of employees working in the organization (Aminuddin 2008, Pettijohn et al., 2001). In the present research we will try to identify how PA affects the employees’ job satisfaction and work performance. Employees who are satisfied with their work and tasks serve as the means for improving the overall organizational performance and it is due to this reason it has been found that above ninety percent of business corporations have systems in place for monitoring performance of the workers and staff members. The performance appraisal systems are largely placed to ensure that employees are satisfied with their jobs and this is determined by their â€Å"overall performance†, â€Å"commitment towards organization† and its goals and the â€Å"turnover rate†. â€Å"Performance Appraisal has been widely practiced in both the private and public sectors in the UK and the US for 20-30 yrs.† as noted from Whyte in 1986, it is Human Resource practice that is widespread in many organizations. It should be though considered as a vital one since Performance Appraisal is actually helping the organization to motivate in the best possible way his employees, to train and develop them and they will act as being the mediators for achieving its aims, its objectives and its profitability.