The document discusses telecommunications networks and their components. It describes the five basic components of telecommunications networks as terminals, telecommunication processors, communication channels, computers, and telecommunication software. It then discusses different types of networks like wide area networks, local area networks, virtual private networks, client/server networks, and peer-to-peer networks. The document also covers various telecommunication media and technologies used for data transmission like wired technologies, wireless technologies, telecommunication processors, telecommunication software, and networking topologies.

1. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Week Seven
Telecommunications and Networks

2. TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK MODEL
 A communication network is any arrangement in which a sender transmits
a message to a receiver over a channel consisting of some type of
medium
 Five basic components of Telecommunications Network
 Terminals – Any input/output device that is used to transmit or receive
data
 Telecommunication Processors – Devices which support data
transmission and reception between terminals and computers e.g.
modems, switches, routers. These devices perform many functions
such as:
 Convert data from digital to analog or back
 Code and decode data
 Control speed
 Monitor accuracy and efficiency
 Telecommunication channels over which data are transmitted and
received. Usually a combination of media is used such as: coaxial
cables, copper wires, fiber-optic, wireless systems, communications
satellites, radio and cellular systems
 Computers
 Telecommunications software e.g. networking programs of all kinds

3. TYPES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS
 Wide Area Networks – telecommunications networks covering large
geographical area are called wide area networks. Networks covering a
city or metropolitan area are called metropolitan networks
 Local Area Networks – connect computers and other communication
devices within limited physical area such as: an
office, building, classroom, labs etc.
 To communicate over the network, usually a PC has a circuit board
called a network interface card
 Most LANs use a more powerful microcomputer with a large hard
drive called a file server or network server. Usually networking
operating system is installed on such machines that controls
telecommunications along with sharing network resources
 Virtual Private Network (VPN) – it is used to establish secure intranet and
extranet
 VPN is a secure network that uses the internet as its main backbone
but relies on firewalls, encryption and other security features
 VPN helps to establish a private and secured connection without
having to spend a lot of money on networking infrastructure

4. TYPES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
NETWORKS CONTINUED
 Client/Server Networks – End user computers or PCs are the clients and
these are interconnected by LAN and are connected to the network
servers which also manage the networks. Local area networks are also
connected to other LANs and WANs.
 Peer to peer Networks
 Central Server Architecture – a central server has directory of all
users on the network
 In case a file is required, server searches for file on the network
and then send you the user name, you connect to the required
PC and get your file transferred
 Pure Peer to peer Network – it does not have any central directory
 Software connects your PC to one of the online users in the
network
 Then an active link to your user name is transmitted from peer to
peer to all online users in the network
 This way active links to more and more peers spread throughout
the network
 When you request a file, the software searches every online
user, and sends you a list of active file names related to your
request. Clicking on one of these links automatically transfer the
file

5. WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN)

6. LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN)

7. VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK

8. CLIENT SERVER NETWORKS

9. PEER TO PEER NETWORK

10. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
 Wired Technologies
 Twisted-Pair Wire – Copper wires twisted into pairs and are used for
both voice and data transmission
 Transmission speeds can range from 2 million bits to 100 million
bits per second
 Coaxial Cable – copper or aluminum wire wrapped with spacers to
insulate and protect. This minimizes interferences and distortion of
signals
 Speed varies between 200 million bits to 500 million bits per
second
 Fiber Optics – cables consist of one or more hair-thin filaments of
glass fiber wrapped in a protective jacket. These cables conduct
pulses of visible light elements (photons) generated by lasers at a
transmission speeds of as high as trillions of bits per second
 A half inch fiber optic cable can carry more than 500000
channels as compared to 5000 of coaxial cables
 These cables are not affected by or generate electromagnetic
radiation allowing multiple fibers to be placed in the same cable
 Has less data error rate

11. TELECOMMUNICATION MEDIA
Twister Pair
Wire Coaxial Cable
Fiber Optic Cable

12. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEDIA CONTINUED
 Wireless Technologies - rely on radio waves, microwaves, infrared to
transmit digital communications without wires
 Terrestrial Microwave – involves earthbound microwave systems that
transmit high speed radio signals in a line-of-sight path between relay
stations spaced approximately 30 miles
 Antennas are placed on top of buildings, hills, towers etc.
 Communications Satellites – Use microwave radio as
telecommunication medium
 High earth orbit(about 22,000 miles above the equator)
communication satellites
 These satellites communicate with stations on earth through dish
antennas
 Such stations were used only for voice and video transmissions,
however large volume of data is also being transmitted now
 Cellular and PCS Systems – use several radio communication
technologies
 Large area gets divided into small geographical areas, each has
its own lower power transmitters

13. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEDIA CONTINUED
 Wireless Technologies Continued …
 Wireless LANs – Using wires in a building is often costly and
difficult affair
 Wireless LANs can easily be installed without having any
physical connections through cable using wireless
technologies
 Bluetooth - A wireless technology being used to connect devices
from 10 to 100 meters range
 Normally a standard radio chip is plugged into devices that
facilitates communication between two devices
 Wireless Web

14. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEDIA CONTINUED

15. TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROCESSORS
 Modems – Convert digital signal to analog that can be transmitted through telephone
line and then at the other end a reverse process takes place
 Inter-Network Processors – devices such as switches, hubs, routers, gateways
 Switches – makes connections in communications circuits
 Bridge – is a device that connects two or more LANs using the same
communications rule or protocol
 Router – connects networks with different rules or protocol so that a transmitted
message can be routed to its intended destination
 Hub – is a port-switching device. Workstations, servers, printers and other
networking resources are connected to ports. Modern hubs do automatic
switching
 Gateway – Networks using different communication architectures are
connected through gateways
 Multiplexers – a communication processor that allows a single channel to carry
simultaneous data transmission from many channels. It is achieved in two
ways:
 Frequency Division multiplexing - a multiplexer divides a high-speed
channel into multiple slow speed channels
 Time Division Multiplexing – divides the time each terminal can use the
high speed into very short time slots or time frames

16. TELECOMMUNICATION PROCESSORS
Hub
Router
Multiplexer

17. TELECOMMUNICATION SOFTWARE
 Programs built to manage telecommunication activities fall under the
umbrella of telecommunication software
 Activities managed by these packages are:
 Traffic Management – Manage resources and network traffic to
avoid congestion and optimize telecommunication services for
users
 Security – must provide:
 Authentication
 Encryption
 Firewall
 Auditing functions
 Enforce security policies
 And any other networking defenses

18. NETWORKING TOPOLOGIES
 Ring – Each node connects to exactly two other nodes, thus forming a single continuous pathway. Data travels
from node to node where each node handles every packet of data
 Advantages:
 Very orderly network where each node has access and opportunity to transmit
 Performs better than Bus topology under heavy network load
 Does not require a central node to manage networking traffic
 Disadvantages:
 One malfunction can create problems for rest of the network
 Moves, additions and change of devices affect the networking traffic
 Communication delay is directly proportion to number of nodes in the network
 Bandwidth is shared on all links between devices
 Star – one central devices i.e. hub, switch or computer to which all other computer/devices are connected, thus
provides a common connection point
 Advantages:
 Better performance - a lot of load on central device but a good device can easily manage the
workload
 Isolation of devices
 Easy to find faults and can easily be corrected
 No disruptions to the network when connecting or removing devices
 Disadvantages:
 High dependence on the central device
 Failure of central device makes network inoperable
 More difficult to configure than star
 Bus – Devices are connected via a shared communication line, very uncommon and care must be taken as
communication collision is quite possible

19. NETWORKING TOPOLOGIES
Star
Ring
Bus

20. NETWORK PROTOCOLS
 Until quite recently, standards were lacking for interfaces among
hardware, software and communication channels. This resulted in:
 Increased costs
 Reduced efficiency
 Less effectiveness
 Protocols – Standard set of rules and procedures for the control of
communications in a network
 Protocols might be limited to one type of equipment or one
manufacturer's equipment
 One of the goals of communication standardization is to increase
compatibility among different protocols e.g.:
 Physical characteristics of terminals, computers, modems
and other communication lines
 Handshaking i.e. the process of exchanging predetermined
signals and characters to establish a communication session

21. NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 The goal of architecture is to promote: open, simple, flexible and efficient
communication environment by the use of standard protocols, software and
hardware interfaces
 Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) is a standard description or “reference model”
that explains how messages should be transmitted between any two points
 There are seven layers to OSI:
 The physical Layer – Provide the hardware means of sending and receiving
data on a carrier
 The data link layer – Supports error-free organization and transmission of data
in a network
 The network layer – It handles the routing of data i.e. sending it to the intended
destination. Does routing and forwarding
 The transport layer – It manages end-to-end control i.e. (determining if all
packets have been arrived) and error checking. It ensures complete data
transfer
 The session layer – It sets up, coordinates and terminates conversations,
exchanges and dialogues between applications at each end i.e. it deals with
connections and sessions
 The presentation layer – it usually is part of an operating system and converts
incoming and outgoing data from one format to another i.e. a text stream into a
pop-up window
 Application layer – Communication partners are identified, quality of service is
identified, user authentication and privacy

22. THE INTERNET TCP/IP
 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol
 The addressing, routing, transport protocols, objective is to ensure
that a user gets to the right website or e-mail reaches the
intended recipient
 TCP/IP can be related to a mailing system where TCP regulates
the postal system, various processes and protocols to move the
mail and IP refers to finding ZIP code and house number
 IP was first standardized in Sep 1981 and was developed on 32
bit internet address value
 The first part of an internet address identifies a number where a
host resides and the second part identifies a particular host
 Valid addresses can be between 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255, the
combination gives us around 4.3 billion addresses
 Internet2 increases IP addresses from 32 to 128 bits

23. CHAPTER 7
e-Business Systems

24. INTRODUCTION
 What is e-business ?
The use of internet, other networks and information technologies
to support e-commerce, enterprise communication, collaboration,
web-enabled business processes both within networked
enterprise and within its customers and business partners

25. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS
 Traditional approach was to use separate systems for each function
and keep information within an enterprise
 Trend has changed now
 Intenerated cross functional systems in client server environment are
becoming a norm in toady’s business world
 Sharing information with customers, clients, suppliers and others is
seen as a strategic move
Customer Market Market Component Product Product Process Equipment Production
Feedback Research Test Design Test Release Design Design Start
R&D
Marketing Manufacturing
/Engineering

26. ENTERPRISE APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE
Suppliers
Supply Chain Management
Partner Relationship Management
Sourcing, Procurement
Collaboration, Decision Support
Knowledge Management
Selling, Distribution
Employees
Partners
Enterprise Resource Planning
Internal Business Processes
Customer Relationship Management
Marketing, Sales, Service
Customers

27. ENTERPRISE APPLICATION INTEGRATION
 Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) software being used by
enterprises to integrate cross functional applications
Enterprise
Application
Integration
Font Office Back Office
Customer Service Distribution
Field Service EAI Manufacturing
Product Configuration Scheduling
Sales Order Entry Finance

28. HOW DOES EAI WORK?
5
Call Centre
E-mail Billing
Finance
Web 2
Fax
1
EAI 3 Orders and
Fulfillment
Call Centre 4
Routing
Mail
Manufacturing
Shipping

29. TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS
 Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) are cross-functional information
systems that process data resulting from occurrence of business
transactions
 Transactions are events that occur as part of doing business, such as:
sales, purchases, deposits, withdraws, refunds and payments
 Online transaction Processing systems play a strategic role in e-commerce
 Transaction Processing Cycle
 Data Entry – capturing business data
 Transaction Processing:
 Batch Processing – data are accumulated to be processed at a
later stage
 Real Time Processing – data is processed immediately
 Database Maintenance – databases need to be updated as and when
required
 Document and report generation – such as: purchase
orders, paychecks, sales receipts, invoices, credit notes, delivery notes
etc.
 Inquiry Processing – number of inquiries such as stock levels, sales
figures, pricing information etc. are required to be processed by
transaction processing systems

30. ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION SYSTEMS
 ECS (Enterprise Collaboration Systems) are cross functional systems
that enhance communication, coordination, and collaboration among
the members of business teams and work groups
 Communicate – share information with each other
 Coordinate – organize individual work efforts and use of resources
 Collaborate – work together cooperatively on joint projects and
assignments

31. ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION SYSTEMS
Enterprise
Collaboration
Systems
Collaborative
Electronic Electronic
Work
Communications Conferencing
Management
Tools Tools
Tools
• e-mail • Data Conferencing •Calendaring and
•Instant Messaging •Voice Conferencing Scheduling
•Voice Mail •Videoconferencing •Task and Project
•Faxing •Discussion Forums Management
•Web Publishing •Chat Systems •Workflow Systems
•Paging •Electronic Meeting •Document Sharing
Systems •Knowledge
Management

32. FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS SYSTEMS
Marketing
•Customer Relationship
•Interactive Marketing
•Sales force Automation
Production/Operations HR Management
•Manufacturing resource •Compensation Analysis
planning •Employee Skills Inventory
•Manufacturing execution •Personnel requirement
Functional
•Process Control Business forecasting
Systems
Accounting
•Order Processing Finance
•Inventory Control •Cash Management
•Accounts Receivables •Credit Management
•Accounts Payable •Investment Management
•Payroll •Capital budgeting
•General Ledger •Financial forecasting

33. MARKETING SYSTEMS
 Marketing is concerned with: Planning, Promotion, Sale of existing
products, Development of new products, Development of new markets
 Marketing is an essential part of e-business and any organization
 Interactive Marketing – Customer focused marketing process that is
based on using internet, extranet, internet to establish two way
communication between customers or potential customers
 Customers are encouraged to engage interactively to develop
new products, delivery and service issues
 Targeted Marketing is involved in developing advertising and
promotion strategies to strengthen company’s e-commerce activities
 Community – Customization of web advertising messages and
promotion methods to appeal people in specific communities
 Content – Advertising material can be placed in a variety of web
sites. The target audience for these adds can vary
 Context – Advertising can be aimed to specific web pages where
context to products/services is relevant
 Demographic/Psychographic - Web advertising can be aimed
only at specific type or classes of people
 Online behavior – Advertising and promotion effort can be
tailored to each visit to a web site. This is achieved through a
variety of tracking techniques such as “web cookies”

34. SALES FORCE AUTOMATION
 Many companies are equipping their sales force with: notebook
computers, handheld devices, web browsers, and sales contact
management software
 This trend:
 Makes the sales team more productive
 Speeds up the capture and analysis of sales data
 It allows marketing and sales management to improve
delivery of information and support they provide to their sales
team
 It provides strategic advantage to companies

35. MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
 Manufacturing Information Systems support the production/operations that
include all activities
 Computer Integrated Manufacturing – an overall concept that emphasizes
that the objectives of computer based systems in manufacturing must be
to:
 Simplify (reengineer) – production processes, product designs, and
factory organization as a vital foundation to automation and
integration
 Automate production processes and the business functions with
computers, machines and robots
 Integrate all production and support processes using computer
networks, cross-functional business software, and all other
information technologies
 Computer-aided manufacturing systems – are those that automate
the production process
 Manufacturing execution systems – are performance monitoring
information systems for factory floor operations such as: production
process, materials, equipment, inventories, scheduling, control,
machine control etc.
 Process Control systems – use of computers to control on going
physical processes.
 Machine control is the use of computers to control actions of
machines

36. COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing Engineering
Manufacturing
Execution Systems
Resource
Systems
Planning Systems
Production
Shop
Forecasting
Floor
Computer
Scheduling
Enterprise Resource Planning
Aided
Design
Production
Scheduling
Shop
Floor
Control Computer
Material
Aided
Requirements
Engineering
Planning
Machine
Control
Capacity
Planning Computer
Aided Process
Robotics Planning
Control
Production
Cost Control
Product
Simulation and
Process Control
Quality Prototype
Control
Computer- integrated- manufacturing

37. HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEMS
 Human Resource Information Systems are designed to support:
 Planning to meet the personnel needs of the business
 Development of employees to their full potential
 Control of all personnel policies and programs
 Originally businesses used computer-based information systems to:
 Produce paychecks and payroll reports
 Maintain personnel records
 Analyze the use of personnel in business operations
 Many businesses have gone beyond traditional personnel
management functions and have developed systems that also support:
 Recruitment, selection, and hiring
 Job placement
 Performance appraisals
 Employee benefits analysis
 Training and development
 Health, safety and security

38. HUMAN RESOURCES INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Compensation
Training and
Staffing Administration
Development
•Succession planning
Strategic •Human Resources
•Performance •Contract costing
Systems Planning
appraisal planning •Salary forecasting
•Labor force tracking
•Compensation
effectiveness and
•Labor cost analysis •Training
Tactical equity analysis
and budgeting effectiveness
Systems •Benefit performance
•Turnover analysis •Career matching
analysis
•Recruiting •Skill assessment •Payroll control
Operational •Workforce planning/ •Performance •Benefits and
Systems scheduling evaluation administration

39. ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
 Typically accounting systems include transaction processing systems
such as:
 Order processing – Captures and process customer orders and
produce data for inventory control and accounts receivables
 Inventory control – Process data reflecting changes in inventory
and provides shipping and reorder information
 Accounts receivables – Records amounts owed by customers and
produces customer invoices, monthly statements, and credit
management reports
 Accounts payables – Records purchases from, amounts owed to,
and payments to suppliers, and produces cash management
reports
 Payroll – Records employee work and compensation data and
produces paychecks, and other payroll documents and reports
 General ledger – Consolidates data from other accounting
systems and produces the periodic financial statements and
reports of the business

40. ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS CONTINUED
 Online Accounting Systems
 Financial Management Systems – Such systems support business
managers and professionals in:
 Financing a business
 Allocation and control of financial resources
 Financial analysts make heavy use of tools like spread sheets to
analyze data generated by corporate information systems
 Business’s present and future financial health can be evaluated by
analyzing current data and future realistic forecasts
 Examples:
 Capital budgeting – the process of evaluating the profitability and
financial impact of proposed financial expenditure
 Investments can be evaluated using various return on investment
techniques
 Financial planning i.e. how cash flow and other financial
resources are going to be managed

41. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Information Systems in
Finance
Cash Management Investment Management Capital Budgeting Finance Planning
Forecast and manage Manage short term Evaluate risk/return Forecast financial
cash position and other securities of capital performance and
expenditure financing needs