The name of the person who I have interviewed for this is Christopher Wrey, my supervisor. This organisation also uses I.C.T for purchasing and communications; they do this via a 56kbps modem. They have considered in investing in a broadband connection, but they decided against the idea, for reasons unknown to me. They do not currently have a website, but they are considering creating one.
Overview of I.C.T: -
Unfortunately, Trionic Ltd. use very little I.C.T in there organisation however, I will write a report on the areas they do use I.C.T in, and possible improvements to the company, which could come with a more in depth usage of I.C.T.
Uses of I.C.T: -
My organisation did not have a computer system, and only had 1 monitor in use. The company uses I.C.T for communication with suppliers, ordering goods and communication with customers. As the company was rather on the small side, they did not need to use I.C.T for staff information, wages, bonus systems etc. however, they did use I.C.T for advertising, they produced a small leaflet, which was distributed around Beverley town centre. I.C.T is used for concept keyboards for the cash registers, it is also used for security, with the CCTV camera, and in the burglar alarm systems, and they also use I.C.T in purchasing from the Internet, and also keep in contact with customers via e-mail.
Explanation of uses of I.C.T in Trionic: -
Concept Keyboards,
They use the program PowerPoint for this. They draw a grid of the size that the cash register requires. Then fill it in with the required items, e.g. while I was working there he was doing a concept keyboard for a pub located on Beverley Road, which had colour coded buttons, with the names of drinks sold in the pub, e.g. blue for spirits, green for various beers etc. He then programmed the cash register to bring up the correct values when the buttons were pressed, and consequently write these values onto the till rolls.
CCTV Cameras,
They have two CCTV cameras installed on site, they have one keeping track of who enters and leaves the premises, these are connected up to a television in the back room, which records the film at 2 second intervals. If there were any suspicious goings on so to speak, they would check the video. The videotapes are re-used again and again.
Burglar Alarms,
The burglar alarm system comprises of 2 movement sensors and a sound sensor, the motion sensors are located in the main entrance, and the sound sensor is located in the main office. The alarm can be reset via use of a 9-digit keypad. When the correct code is pushed in the alarm will turn off or on.
Purchasing,
They log on to the internet and visit their suppliers website, they order goods off here, paying using the company’s credit card number if cannot find what they need on this website, they visit other sites, e.g. overclockers.com.
E-Mailing Customers,
When a customer wishes to contact them via e-mail, or they wish to contact a customer via e-mail, they use the company’s email address. This is a fast and cost-saving way to keep in contact with customers. They can include pictures of products and specifications in the e-mail, as they could not look at pictures over the phone and if there is a large amount of information e.g. specifications, conveying this over the phone would waste time. With e-mail you can copy and paste from the website required.
Software,
The software used by the company was basic Microsoft packages, like word, PowerPoint etc. They use word for advertising, and making letters, while PowerPoint is used for making concept keyboards for cash registers.
They do not require an I.T technician for obvious reasons, they do not ‘back up’ data, on their machines, as it is not particularly important,
The company uses word-processing, and e-mail applications, they use these to write to their customers. The Staff are not educated in the uses of these particular software application packages, as they already have a sufficiently proficient understanding of them.
Administration,
When a customer wishes to contact them via e-mail, or they wish to contact a customer via e-mail, they use the company’s email address. This is a fast and cost-saving way to keep in contact with customers. They can include pictures of products and specifications in the e-mail, as they could not look at pictures over the phone and if there is a large amount of information e.g. specifications, conveying this over the phone would waste time. With e-mail you can copy and paste from the website required.
Components used,
The hardware used falls into 5 categories, Input Output and Storage Devices, Processors (being the CPU) and Ports and Cables. The Input devices used consist of a keyboard mouse and a scanner. The scanner was utilised to scan in old concept keyboards if they were required to be used again, they store old images of concept keyboards on the hard-drive, but if they cannot be located there they try and find another and scan it in. The Output devices consist of a printer a monitor and a speaker. The printer was used to ‘print off’ documents required for certain customers, and information which was required, such as stock lists from their suppliers. They store all their data on a hard-drive as they do not back-up data on removable storage. The ports consist of USB and parallel. USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports are used for the mouse, and keyboard. While parallel are used for scanner, printer and monitor.
My thoughts: -
I think that the company requires some form of database, to keep track of customers what they owe, etc. They could have information such as what they have purchased in the past, D.O.B (in the format dd/mm/yyyy), forename, surname what they want, e-mail address, home address, telephone number and what they owe the company. This would be very useful as they could contact their customers with special offers, etc. They could also utilise mail merge to contact their customers.
They could also utilise spreadsheets to keep a stock database, this would be useful as they could keep track on what stock they have, and what they need. E.g. U.S.B. Connections, hard drives etc. They could then also have a re-order level to help them decide when stock should be re-ordered, this would be a quick and easy process, as soon as they sell an item of stock they could record this on the computer, and use an ‘IF’ formula to warn them that stock level is low. They should also store this information not only on a current hard-drive, but they should back-up on a removable storage device, e.g. a re-writeable CD or a floppy disk.
They could use graphics packages to improve their advertising, to make it more attractive and more eye-catching for potential customers, their current advertising leaflet is small and bland, it is printed in black and white and it will not appeal to customers. If they were to use graphics software they could create bold A4 size posters, to display the latest offers in a more attractive manner.
They could also create a company web site, to attract more customers. On this site they could list various offers, prices, their address, their e-mail address, and other information that would enable them to improve the size and popularity of their company.
