Week 22

Lesson Objectives: 

In this lesson, the objectives will be as follows:

1) To understand and evaluate various methods of telecommunications. 

2) To employ appropriate business ethics and correct etiquette when using telecommunications. 

On March 10, 1876, the first call was placed between Alexander Graham Bell, at his Boston lab, to his assistant, Thomas Watson. This was the first instance of communicating through electricity.  In fact, today, one way that telecommunications happens is when peoples voices or "sound waves are converted into electrical waves of the same pattern as sound waves" (Weixel, 2017). This happens when a person speaks into the microphone (Weixel, 2017). The electrical  waves then travel through a vast network of wires.  Once the electrical waves reach the receiver, they are converted back to sound waves (Weixel, 2017). 

"Telecommunications is transmission of voice, data, or other signals across a distance" (iCEV, n.d.)  "Telecommunications can be duplex or half-plex" (Weixel, 2017).  In duplex communications, both the sender and the receiver can communicate at the same time. This would be an example of a regular conversation through a phone. In a half-plex situation, only one person can communicate at a time. The other person has to wait for the other person to stop communicating. This is an example of how a walkie-takie works.  Almost every single phone call goes through the "Public Switch Telephone Network"(Weixel, 2017).  This is a vast network of copper, cable, and fiber wires that spread out and allow telecommunications to happen (Weixel, 2017).  

At first, most of our telecommunication infrastructure relied on "twisted copper wire" ( Weixel, 2017). Fiber optics was later created, where information was transmitted through light impulses (iCEV, n.d). Fiber optics is capable of transmitting "65,000 times" more information than copper wires (Weixel, 2017).

Today, new technologies have emerged that allow for instant communication. Some of these technologies include email, instant messaging, fax machines, video conferencing, and teleconferencing. Many more technologies will also be explored in this lesson.  

As the speed of the internet became faster and broadband became more available, the need to fly nationally or internationally for meetings has become unnecessary. Video conferencing or teleconferencing can now connect people in distant parts of the world  together in seconds.