Working styles

ICT is not only computers. You can use other devices such as phones and laptops. For most people in companies, the most useful tool is a database. These can be used for contact details of employees and business contacts, to find out about people, to keep a record of products and costs and more. They are good as they allow you to extract information quickly as you can type in a search criterion to instantly find things, as opposed to manually looking for files. Without ICT jobs would take a lot longer and would also be a lot more difficult or reliable. A lot of people find it quite stressful having all of these gadgets however. You can lose them, you have to charge them and some need specific care.
Email is used very largely and is now crucial in any organisations. They can be processed at any time and are a more efficient way of communication that letters.

EPOS- Electronic point of sale. A computerised till connected to a price look up database, and possibly to the live stock database.

EFTPOS- electronic funds transfer at point of sale. A system that allows debit cards to be used to pay for goods. The funds are transferred automatically by the machine at the till from the buyer’s bank account to the seller’s

Using the Internet, specialists can now perform surgery online, using electronic arms, and although reliable it could possibly malfunction.

Journalism can be done online, as newspapers can be edited, published and sent between journalists using the Internet. Also you can receive stories and photographs from people who send them via phones and laptops, and put them online within minutes. However computers can crash so there is a need for skilled ICT staff to fix the problems very quickly so that deadlines are met.