Topic 2: Communication services

Question 0

What are some advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones?

Answer 0

Advantages:

Question 1

What are voice telephones? What are some of the services available on mobile phones?

Answer 1

Telephones are one of the most popular communication devices and although the landline phone is still very popular the growth in the use of mobile phones has meant that these have many more services available.
Here are some of the services available through mobile phones:

Question 2

What is SMS (texting?)

Answer 2

SMS (short messaging service) or as most people know it, texting, allows short low-cost messages to be sent between phones. It is also possible to send text messages to phones using a computer or mobile device such as a PDA or palmtop.

Question 3

What is fax?

Answer 3

Fax is like a long-distance photocopier. You put a document in the fax machine at one end and then enter the telephone number of the fax machine to which it is to be sent. The page is scanned, passed along the telephone line and it is printed out the recipients fax machine. Documents as well as diagrams/drawings can be sent by fax. It is possible to use a computer with a scanner and printer as a fax machine.

Question 4

What is instant messaging (IM?)

Answer 4

Instant messaging is a method of two people using real-time text to conduct a conversation. Dome instant message services can make use of WebCams and allow people conducting conversation to see each other.

Question 5

What is email?

Answer 5

Email is a fast and cheap way of sending messages from one computer to one or more other computers. It has the advantage that you can attach file to email.

Question 6

What are chat rooms?

Answer 6

Chat rooms are virtual meeting places where you can meet and hold conversations with others. They are not without their dangers. You do not always truly know who you are talking to.

Question 7

What are forums?

Answer 7

Forums are often called message boards and they allow people to post and respond to messages posted on them. Usually the forum is about a particular subject of interest.

Question 8

What are bulletin boards?

Answer 8

A bulletin board is a computer with a special software that users can log into. Once logged in, they can upload and download files, read bulletins and messages, etc.

Question 9

What is VoIP?

Answer 9

Voice over Internet protocol/Internet telephone enables cheap phone calls to be made using the Internet. It is a technology that allows for signals to be transferred over the Internet but they can sometimes be unreliable and the quality of the sound is poor.

Question 10

What is video conferencing?

Answer 10

Videoconferencing allows face-to-face meetings to be conducted without the participants being in the same room or even the same geographical area. You will probably have seen video conferencing systems used to interview people in distant locations on the TV news. Videoconferencing allows people to hold a virtual meeting. The people at the meeting can see and speak to each other. They are also able to share documents, presentations, etc.

Question 11

What are some advantages and disadvantages of videoconferencing?

Answer 11

Advantages:

Question 12

What is version control?

Answer 12

When working on multiple versions of the file, each version should have a different filename to the previous version. There is always the danger of saving an older version of the file using the same filename loosing work in the process. Saving using different version names helps avoid this. This is called version control.

Question 13

How do you transfer data securely over the Internet?

Answer 13

In order to transfer data, it is often necessary to use the Internet. This exposes the data to the threat from hackers. Hackers may view the data, alter the data or use the data to commit fraud. In order to transfer data securely it is necessary to encrypt it. Encryption scrambles the data as it is been sent and only the true recipient can unscramble it.

Question 14

How do you make sure that only authorised people have access?

Answer 14

It is important to make sure the only people who are authorised to access the ICT system have access to it. There are a number of ways this can be done:

Question 15

How would you show respect towards others on the Internet?

Question 16

What is the data protection act?

Answer 16

This states what you can and cannot do with your personal data.

Question 17

What is a web browser?

Answer 17

Web browser software is a program that allows access to webpages stored on the Internet. A web browser allows the user to find information on websites and webpages quickly and it does this by making use of: URLs, keyword searches, links and menus.

Question 18

What is email software?

Answer 18

Email is an electronic message sent from one communication device (computer, telephone, mobile phone, or PDA) to another. Most web browser software has email software provided as part of it. Email software allows a user to: read and write emails, reply to an email, forward emails. Also create an address book where you produce a list of the people you need to contact with their contact details including their email addresses and it also allows you to send one email to a group of people.

Question 19

What is messaging software?

Answer 19

Messaging software is a software that allows for written and oral communication between two people using the Internet. In most cases both users will need to have the same messaging software in order to communicate with each other. Messaging software includes: SMS software that allows text messages to be sent and received, instant messaging that allows users to conduct a real-time conversation by typing your messages to each other and VoIP, where users are able to make cheap voice calls to each other over the Internet.

Question 20

What is file transfer?

Answer 20

Filetransfer is used to transfer a file of data from one computer to another. File transfer software is available as part of the email software and it allows you to attach files to emails. For example, you could attach a file containing a photograph of yourself obtained from a digital camera, a piece of clipart, a picture that you have scanned in, a long document, etc. Basically, if you can store it as a file, then you can attach it to an email.

Question 21

How would you use the Internet for communication?

Question 22

How would you use the Internet for commerce?

Answer 22

Most organisations use websites, sometimes for promotional purposes and sometimes to allow people to order goods or services using the site. This is called e-commerce. Lots of these websites allow customers to browse online catalogues and add goods to their virtual shopping basket/trolley just like in a real store. When they have selected the goods, they go to the checkout where they have to decide on the payment method. They also have to enter some details such as their mailing address and other contact details. The payment is authorised and the ordering process is completed. All that is left is for the customer to wait for the delivery of the goods.

Question 23

How would you use the Internet for leisure?

Question 24

How would you use the Internet for information retrieval?

Question 25

Give three examples of controlling ICT systems at a distance.

Answer 25

Remote controls, many computers are used at a distance and therefore it makes sense to have a remote control just like the one you use with your TV.
Help desks, if you are experiencing a problem one way to fix it is to contact the help desk. As the staff at the helpdesk are often in another part of the country or the world, they can use the Internet to take over the running of your computer so they can see if they can fix the problem.
Remote access, many people need to gain access to their computer system when they are away from the office. They do this by using the Internet and entering a user ID and password.

Question 26

Give three examples of worker monitoring/logging.

Question 27

What are cookies?

Answer 27

Cookies are pieces of text that websites put onto your hard drive when you visit them. Without you knowing, Internet cookies record details of the websites you have visited and how long you spent on them, what pages we’re looked at, whether you have visited the site before, etc. Many people consider this to be an invasion of their privacy.

Question 28

What is key logging?

Answer 28

Key logging is the process of someone recording/monitoring the keys you press when you are using your computer using a keylogger, which can either be hardware or software. As it can record keystrokes, someone can record your password and banking details. They can then use the information they collect fraudulently.

Question 29

What is call monitoring/recording?

Answer 29

Many employers monitor the calls employees make using phones provided by the company in order to detect whether the system is being abused. Mobile phone calls are always recorded by the mobile phone companies and kept for certain period as part of the fight against terrorists and criminals.

Question 30

What is electronic consumer surveillance?

Answer 30

Some supermarkets monitor their shoppers as they walk around the store in order to understand better how shoppers shop. These cameras investigate how best to arrange goods to attract shoppers attention.

Question 31

What is mobile phone triangulation?

Answer 31

Your geographical location can be found if you carry a mobile phone. The mobile phone service locates your phone fairly accurately using a process called triangulation. Some people object to your whereabouts being stored by mobile phone companies.

Question 32

What are CCTV cameras?

Answer 32

CCTV stands for closed-circuit television and these are the cameras you see just about everywhere. Some of these cameras can be used with sophisticated software to actually recognise a person and others can recognise a car registration plate and find the name and address of the registered owner.

Question 33

What is automatic number plate recognition?

Answer 33

In an automatic number plate recognition system a digital photograph of a number plate is taken by a CCTV camera and stored. The software then takes the image and uses optical character recognisation (OCR) to recognise each character making up the numberplate. Once the number plate is in the system further details can be obtained by using the characters in search of a database. This system can be used for: recognising cars picked out by cameras for speeding, illegally travelling in bus lanes or jumping red lights. Recognising cars entering and leaving car parks. Recognising cars entering and leaving the country at ports. Recognising cars I have been used in crimes . Identifying cars to check that they have paid road tax and have insurance.

Question 34

What are the advantages of wireless communication?

Question 35

What applications use Bluetooth?

Question 36

What are some advantages and disadvantages of Bluetooth?

Answer 36

Advantages:

Question 37

What is GIS and what does it stand for?

Answer 37

A geographical information system, is an ICT system that is used to capture, manage, analyse and display geographically referenced information.

Question 38

What can you use GIS for?

Question 39

What are the advantages and disadvantages of GIS?

Answer 39

Advantages: