Media and Modes of Communication
Transmission of messages can be made
through a variety of media. Media differ in
their properties. Some are best suited for one
to one communication , others one to many ,
or others many to many. Each medium has its
own characteristics which is advantageous in
different situations. Hence, it is very important
to select our media with care.
For the purpose of our understanding we will
divide media into Traditional / Conventional
and nonconventional or modern
Conventional/ Traditional Modes.
• Mail: The postal service uses rail, air and road
and is usually government owned network with
links with all the other countries. Various types of
mail services are available such as ordinary
mail, registered mail, quick mail, express
delivery, under certificate of posting and speed
post.
• Courier: They are private, they collect and
deliver packets door to door at any time. Though
the cost is high, there is a very quick service for
delivery of parcels and letters.
• Hand delivery: written messages can be
delivered within the city by an organization’s
delivery boys.
• Telegraph: It is a government owned network in most
countries and has links with all the other countries. The
telegraph came into use earlier than the telephone as a
means of communicating. S.F. Morse invented this
system of electric signalling. Signals are sent by making
and breaking the current in an electric circuit so that the
signal consists of short and long clicks which can be
clearly heard. The first permanently successful telegraph
cable crossing the Atlantic Ocean was laid in 1866. J. B.
Stearns introduced the message of sending four
messages over the same wire at the same time in 1874.
Messages sent over the telegraph are known as
telegrams. This medium has lost its importance with the
introduction of mobile phones . It has an excellent
network which reaches even remote parts of the country
where modern media have not yet reached.
• Telex: Telex is used only by the organizations. Telex
connection is got through the post office , each
subscriber has a number of connections . The machine
is fitted with a roll of paper and messages are typed out
continuously. When a message is typed on the sender’s
machine, the same message gets typed on the
receiver’s machine. The machine is describes as one for
talking over wires as it combines the benefit of the spped
of the telephone with the authority of the written
word.The advantage of this machine is that it
automatically types out received messages which can be
read later. When it is attended it can carry on a two- way
dialogue.
• They can be received on a screen; newspaper offices,
share markets, air ports, railway stations and places
where moment to moment information has to be
conveyed to many people, telex messages are relayed
on a screen.
• Telephone: It is a means of oral communication.The first instrument
made by Alexander Bell in 1876 was very crude, but owing to
constant improvements conversation today over a telephone has
become practically effortless. It is the most useful and universal
medium of oral communication with a person who is not present at
the same place as the sender. STD( Subscriber Trunk dialling) to
almost all cities in the country and ISD (International subscriber
Dialling) facilities to all the major cities of the world have made the
telephone an instrument for instant communication to any part of the
world.
• Technological advance has made the telephone instrument so
sophisticated that it is able to provide a number of services. An
answering machine can take a message if you cannot answer it.
Conference facility permits three or more persons from different
parts of the world to have a discussion by telephone. Cordless
telephone frees the handset and allows the user to take it around
within a range of 100 metres from the handhold.
• Notice Board: Notice board and bulletin board are media for public
communication within the orgainzation. A notice board is placed at a
location where it can be seen by the persons whom it is meant.
• Newspapers and magazines: these are media for mass
communication. They are used by business houses for inviting
tenders, for recruitment information and other public notices and
advertisements.
• Radio: The radio is a medium of mass oral communication. News,
notices, advertisements are transmitted to the public by radio. Like
other mass media it allows only one way communication . The
transistor set has made it possible for radio to reach all parts of the
country and all sections of the population.
• Cinema and film: It is also an audio visual element like T.V. Motion
pictures are more useful for instruction, information education and
entertainment. Audience can see the film in direct contact with the
facts and ideas through sight hearing and action and thus makes a
direct impact on them. They can be used for a variety of purposes of
organizational communication to inform or motivate the employees
about the activities, programmes, outlook etc.
• They can also be used to show the organizational chart authority
relations, production process methods of production and work
situation.
• Television: Television refers to the transmission of vision. The
system of television broadcast comprises of audio and video or
image transmission. It makes the best use of other media like
printed words, spoken words, motion pictures, colour animation and
sound.
• In India the most remarkable and momentous development in
television is the Satellite Instructional television experiment
inaugurated in 1975.
Modern Media
• Computer: It is a versatile electronic equipment which
can combine almost all the media functions. The word
processor helps in the preparation of letters by guiding
you through the steps of the layout, it ensures that the
letter or any document is neatly laid out in a few
commands, it helps you prepare a circular and
personalize it for several persons and addresses by mail
merge. It guides you through the steps of a report.
Spread sheets, tables, charts and other graphics can be
quickly prepared on the computer. Databases of
customers, suppliers, and so on are maintained and
easily updated. The internet and the email function
through a computer. Computer technology is the fastest
moving field, advances are made rapidly and users can
upgrade their equipment and buy the latest software for
more advanced tasks.
• Cellular Phone: it is based on a
combination of the old radio technology
and emerging telecommunication
technology. Cellular phones operate
through airways, much like a radio. This
means that weather conditions,
underground parking or passages and
fortified buildings may affect reception.
There are some boundaries to cellular
coverage outside metropolitan areas from
major highways.
• Voice mail: It is a communication device on a
telephone line. The simple answering machine
which can be attached to a telephone is a form
of voice mail, it allows a caller to leave a name /
number and message if you do not answer the
phone. The message can be retrieved and
answered later at a more convenient
time.Cellular phone companies offer voice mail
service as a part of their network offerings, the
service is expensive and available 24 hours a
day. A voice mail device can be attatched to a
telephone directly or through a computer. Fax
machines have voice mail facility. Some voice
mail services stamp each message with the date
and time so that you know exactly when the call
was left.
• Internet Voice mail or voice email: This is an addon
software program that lets you send voice mail over the
Internet free to anyone with an e-mail address. It works like
the e-mail program. You have to enter a person’s email
address, record a message and send it. You can even add
text, pictures, and photographs and attatch files. Internet
Voice Mail works with any existing e-mail program, and adds
sounds
• Fax: Facsimile machine is a device for transmitting copies of
printed images over telephone lines. The machine is
connected to a telephone line through a modem. The sender
has to dial the receiver’s fax number insert the document into
the machine and press the start button.The machine scans
the page to make an electronic representation of its text and
graphics , compresses the data to save transmission time and
transmits it to another facsimile machine. It produces an exact
photocopy of the original document on the receiving fax
machine. The printout contains the time and date and the
telephone number of the machine from which it is sent. The
messages are protected by password. Most fax machines can
be used for making one or two xerox copies of a document.
• E-mail: Electronic mail requires a computer , a
telephone line and a modem. The connection is given by
the VSNL and the MTNL. The communication is almost
instantaneous, the message is stored by the receiver’s
electronic mail box till it is called up by the receiver. After
it has been called up it can be stored in the receiver’s
computer and read at any time. Although in speed of
transmission email comes close to the telephone it does
not demand instant reply, there is time to think before
replying. An important effect of the email within the
organization is that it can bypass the chain of command
for upward communication.A subordinate’s query or
observation may be simultaneously on the computer of
the immediate supervisor as well as a higher level
manager.
• Internet: The internet is an international
network of networks. It is not owned by
anyone. It is an excellent source of
information on any topic. You can collect
data apply for jobs put queries etc. Many
products can be bought and sold on the
shopping sites. A good deal of commerce
is conducted on the internet some allow
payment in cash though payment through
credit card is immediate and more
universally accepted in e-commerce.