Office automation systems (OAS)

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Office automation systems (OAS) are information systems intended to increase the productivity of office workers. Examples include groupware, workflow and general-purpose applications such as word processors and spreadsheets. Mission-critical applications such as groupware and workflow can be considered to be key for supporting the internal processes of the e-business. Laudon and Laudon (2010) state three critical organisational roles for office automation systems:

• They coordinate and manage the work of local, professional and information workers within the organisation.
•  They link the work being performed across all levels and functions of the organisation.
•  They couple the organisation to the external environment, including to its clients and suppliers; when you call an organisation, you call an office. 

These roles emphasise the fact that the office should be seen as more than a typing area but rather as a centre for the exchange of organisational knowledge. Activities undertaken in offices include document management, collaborative work and the management of project activities.

Personal OAS technologies have been introduced elsewhere . These applications included desktop publishing (DTP), for producing, for example, drafts of promotional marketing material such as brochures and flyers; personal information managers (PIM), for managing tasks and contacts; and project management software, to assist the management and control of projects. In this section we focus on groupware and workflow management systems, which are most significant in office automation systems, involving teams of people. They are the cornerstone of many ‘in-side e-commerce’ e-business systems.

Groupware
Groupware is software that enables information to be shared by people collaborating on solving problems. This could include activities such as the scheduling and running of meetings, sharing documents and communicating over a distance. Groupware assists teams of people in working together because it provides the ‘three Cs’ of communication, collaboration and coordination:

•  Communication is the core groupware feature which allows information to be shared or sent to others using electronic mail. Groupware for conferencing is sometimes known as  ‘computer-mediated communication’ (CMC) software.
• Collaboration is the act of joint cooperation in solving a business problem or undertaking a task. Groupware may reduce some of the problems of traditional meetings, such as finding a place and a time to meet, a lack of available information or even dominance by one forceful individual in a meeting. Groupware improves the efficiency of decision making and its effectiveness by encouraging contributions from all group members. As a result, the study of groupware is known as ‘computer-supported collaborative work’ (CSCW)
• Coordination is the act of making sure that a team is working effectively and meeting its goals. This includes distributing tasks to team members, reviewing their performance and perhaps steering an electronic meeting.

When people exchange information simultaneously, as is the case with real-time chat or a telephone conversation, this is said to be synchronous. When collaborators send messages that can be accessed at a later time, these are said to be asynchronous. Asynchronous exchange occurs with e-mail and discussion groups. A further reason that groupware has become a useful business tool is that it can be used for collaboration within and between companies when face-to-face contact is impossible. Employees can continue to communicate and work on joint projects even when they are in different locations or in different time zones. The asynchronous use of groupware is one of its key benefits. When considering the benefits of collaborative systems, it is useful to categorise them according to the quadrant in which they lie on a grid showing how people can work together in time and space (Table 6.1).  Software applications associated with groupware are summarised in Table 6.2.Normally, applications such as electronic calendars and e-mail are purchased as separate  software packages. However, some software provides an integrated package of groupware

functions. One such package is Lotus Notes, which is based on a database that allows the sharing of text, graphics, sound and video data. The system can run on a local-area network (LAN) or a wide-area network (WAN) and so allows information to be shared over  distance.Communication between users is automatically logged by Notes for reference. This facility canbe used to increase customer service by retrieving previous interactions between organisation members and customers in a variety of formats in response to a customer request. The other main integrated groupware packages are Novell Groupwise and Microsoft Exchange. These are similar to e-mail software in that they have an inbox of messages, but they also provide calendar and worklist facilities and document management. The use of groupware applications has been revolutionised by the adoption of intranets as part of the move to e-business. Many groupware products are now available through web browsers that enable, for example, e-mail to be sent and reviewed.

Document imaging processing (DIP)
DIP systems attempt to alleviate the problems caused by paper-based systems, including the cost of handling large amounts of paperwork and the time wasted searching for paper documents. DIP systems convert documents (and images) into a digital format which allows storage, retrieval and manipulation of the document on computer. The document is converted using a scanner which can be either handheld and passed over a document, or a flat-bed type where a document is placed on a glass sheet and a scanner reader passes under it. It is then indexed and stored on high-capacity magnetic or optical storage.

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