A range of administrative support system such as supporting meetings (which includes to prepare meeting documents, booking and preparing the room and arranging for refreshments); producing documents (includes to produce documents such as letters, emails and reports, using word processing, spreadsheet and presentation packages), arranging events, (includes assisting with the arrangements of special events such as sales conferences or visit by VIPs, as well as making travel arrangements and hotel reservations); managing diaries, (by arranging, agreeing and entering details of appointments in either a manual or electronic diary system) Handling data (by researching obtaining, obtaining, recording, atoring and retrieving information into manual and computerised systems) or processing expenses (by checking expense claims and arranging for these to be approved and paid) could help contribute to a smooth operation of Brassrail Limited. Supporting the staff helps a business to run more effectively because they enable other staff to concentrate on their own jobs, that also means it will save their time and they can work on other important things.
Task 2 a,b
The diary system is a method of planning and scheduling future events. Diarys are generally of two types. These are:
- Paper-based system
- Electronic system
The paper-based system is a traditional diary system. It involves the recording of future events in paper documents, which are the kept for reference for a later date. There are different types of paper based dairies, for example:
- Pre-printed desk diary ( a diary which stand on a desk in an office)
- Pre-printed pocket diary ( is a small diary you can always carry on you)
- Pre-printed appointment book etc.
If you use a paper-based system then you need to tell people about arrangements made on their behalf. The method of communication must be appropriate for the urgency of the situation. It is no use notifying someone by email that he had made an appointment for him in half an hour and trusting that the person will read it before. In this case you have to call the person or go and find the person.
The electronic system is a diary in your computer. These include such items as:
- Diary software
- Calendar software
- Personal digital assistants (PDA)
- Electronic appointment systems
Most electronic diary systems are operating over a computer network and information is shared between users. If the system is accessible over the internet, users can view it when they are away from the office. Every time someone scheduled an appointment for someone, this shows on their diary or calendar.
Brassrail limited could use the electronic diary system to support the business, because this diary can be viewed by one administrator who can see more than one diary and can book appointments for the person involved and the person who is involved can also book an appointment by himself so that the administrator can see it. The electronic diary is directly linked to the email of the person involved and it will automatically remind the person if he/she had an appointment to attend. And it can not get lost.
And it can also be used to plan and coordinate activities such as business meetings, appointments with customers, training events, dates of sales trips, interviews and many others. And it also enables Brassrail Limited to schedule the use of shared resources, such as a meeting rooms, special equipment or company vehicles. The time slots show who has booked the item and for how long.
Task 3 a,
Brassrail Limited uses the telephone as its main tool of communication.
The telephone system works like this:
- First you have to pick the phone and dial the number you want to call and then you must wait till it gives you a dialling ton and then someone will pick the phone at the other end.
- Or you can also answer a telephone, when it rings, by picking it up and answer the caller. For example:
Me: Hello, you are speaking with Bola Salami, you called Brassrail
Limited at the financial department may I help you?
Caller: Hello my name is (name) I have some questions……
Me: I’ll write to confirm our agreement; you should get the letter next week, if you have any other questions just call us, thank you.
Caller: Thank you for your time.
Task 3 b
There are many features from which you can choose on a standard phone, such as call back; which enables you to recall the person automatically if the line is free. Caller display, shows you the caller number and if have the person in your telephone book it will also show you the name from the caller. Conference call, allows you to speak with more than one people at once, either extension holder or outside callers. Discriminating ringing, allows you to give external calls and internal calls a different ring tone so that you know which is which. Do not disturb, is a function which allows you to block incoming calls, if you have set it. Transfer, enables you to transfer calls to another internal extension and on some system to external number too. Secrecy button, pressing this button means the caller cannot hear anything you say to other and is better than to covering the mouthpiece with your hand. Last number redial, will automatically redials the last number that you have called, with other telephones you can choose one of the last ten numbers that you have called. Hands free/listen and hold, means that you can replace the handset and listen and talk through a speaker. On hold/reminder call holding, enables you to hold incoming calls whilst the correct person is found to deal with the call.
Task 3 c
Using the telephone is not as easy as is normally imagined. It involves special skills such as techniques skills which include avoiding jargon, it is acceptable to use jargon with member of the same profession. It should be only used if you are sure that it will be understood. Never to answer a call when you have something in your mouth, because it will sound rude and it makes your speech indistinct. It is important not to delay in answering a call. This may be a problem for busy managers. Telephones should be answered within three or four rings. Making and receiving telephone calls and writing messages all require also good communication skills, to correctly interpret important information given over the telephone, especially if you do not know the caller’s name or much about the topic being discussed.
But the main skills you should have are:
- To know how to answer a call promptly with an appropriate greeting what includes to Name your name and to name the organisation or department the person just called. And you should also try to smile when you answer a Telephone because if you smile your voice will sound friendlier although the caller can not even see you.
- Always answer with a pen and paper to hand and automatically start to make a written note and if you don’t understand what the caller says because his accent is very strong or you are having problems to understand what he is saying, ask the caller to spell out words and don’t try to guess, then check them using the phonetic alphabet.
- And also find out the reason for the call and write this down so that you will not miss out several important facts that is why you need to make sense of the information, so you need to ask for the additional details you need.
Task 4
The different between the paper-based system and the electronic system is that the paper-based system is a traditional diary system which involves the recording of future events in paper documents, which will be kept for reference for a later date.
The electronic system is a diary such as diary or calendar software in your computer and PDAs and electronic appointment system.
At this point I want to explain the similar of the paper-based and electronic system are that they both plan activities. The diary systems are used for two main reasons:
- To plan and coordinate activities such as business meetings, appointments with customers, training events, dates of sales trips, interviews and many others.
- To schedule the use of shared resources, such as a meeting rooms, special equipment or company vehicles. The time slots show who has booked the item and for how long.
- Recording of future events which will be kept for reference at a later date
The worst problem for anyone who uses an electronic diary is computer failure or data corruption. For this reason, a back-up is usually kept in form of a paper-based-diary. The worst problem with a paper system is that the diary or appointment book goes missing altogether. And another problem is also that if the person is not being able to read a written entry in a paper-based system, finding that some important information about a person is missing.
