A Glance at Modern Media Technology

Technologies change constantly and before describing media technology, it is necessary to decide what is media-technology. The term media is generic so the area for discussion is wide open (media-t, n.d.). With such a wide area to chose from, telecommunications is but one area that can be chosen. As much of the technology we rely on began with the telephone, it is a tribute the the humble telephone to see where technology has taken humanity.

Avaya Flare may resemble a television more closely than a telephone,but is the latest innovation in desktop communications. Marketed as a “desktop video device”, it is designed to interface all communications media into one device (Avaya, 2011).  The pictured phone is rotary dial and many people today have never used one. The touch tone phone will be as much of a curiosity at some point as the bleeding edge of technology becomes the common. The ability to IM,, email, conference, video, and surf from one device, without having to use a computer, was all brought together on the Flare. While the average user may not need something this sophisticated, an administrative assistant or conference center manager would be able to utilize the features efficiently. Should a company decide to invest in devices for this for he majority of employees, which will happen as price drops, it will allow for a more natural form of communication as the “kinesics” that were last in audio alone are regained with a desktop video (Jandt, 2010, p. 113). If nothing else, it demonstrates how far technology has come since people were required to turn a dial which caused relay contacts to open and close a given number of times to mechanically count out numbers.

   While viewing and speaking are part of communications, writing is also an important part. At times, it is necessary to either send a person across the globe to tend to some paperwork or fax things back and forth. When a document requires an original signature, paperwork traditionally has been ferried back and forth at great expense to the companies participating in the endeavor. The technology of the autopen has made this unnecessary. President Obama used it to extend the patriot act (Shear, 2011). The device may seem controversial, but if the president of the united states can use it to sign an extension of the patriot act while in Europe, stripping away constitutional protections of citizenship, it should be good enough for any other business purpose in the United States. In a capitalist, individualist society the bottom line in business is the only thing that really matters and the money saved using such a device should outweigh the indifference shown to one another. Judges could even use it for imposing death penalties so the blood is on the robots hand and only indirectly on theirs. Like any technology, this could be abused or used as a means of creating efficiency in business or abused as a means of preventing people from developing interpersonal skills in order to interact with each other face to face.

    It is up to the individual which path they will follow. The technology itself is useful, Another useful technology if Voice over IP (VoIP).

VoIP is a means of passing voice traffic over data infrastructure. It is almost ironic as not too log ago Data was dependent on voice infrastructure with the use of a modem to get a user connected. With High Speed Internet, companies like Vonage are able to send phone traffic across the country at a fraction of the cost to the consumer that traditional carriers charge. The business applications for this technology allow for the use of a single cable pulled to a workstation from a closet, saving material and time. In an emergency situation (the author has done this) a single line that in traditional telephone infrastructure cold only support a single phone. Is plugged into a data switch and used to run a small office consisting of multiple phones and computers until proper infrastructure could be pulled in. The disaster recovery implications are staggering, in a positive way, compared to what was once necessary.

 Taking VoIP traffic to a larger scale, instead of a single pair of wires carrying a single call or a data circuit being limited to 23 channels plus one signaling channel, or 24 bearer traffic channels (depending on application), hundreds of calls can now occupy the same physical media simultaneously. This traffic can coexist with data traffic. Large companies have data circuits between sites and rather than ship the phone traffic across the public network, VoIP allows the traffic to be transported internally, eliminating toll charges. Interfacing the vice and data network in larger environments can be best accomplished using a private branch exchange, or PBX.

Looking at the hardware, it obviously has advanced greatly in the last several decades. This advance has only accelerated in recent years. Applying the logic of how to route calls to the new technologies becomes a challenge, but a worthwhile endeavor. The modern PBX is VoIP enabled and can handle IP phones instead of the traditional analog and digital. The traditional method of connection required a pair of wires per phone to be connected to a physical circuit pack, which could usually handle eight, sixteen, or twenty-four phones. The cabinets and power alone for all of the circuit packs was an enormous investment. The IP phones can logically connect thousands of phones to a box the size of a pizza box rather than a refrigerator. It also becomes a reality to interconnect these PBX servers across the data network and route traffic between them.

When it is a toll call between two areas where a business has offices with a PBX in them, it is possible to save money calling to the other company’s local area. An example would be if a user in an office in an 818 area code wanted to call a vendor in the 310 area code, where the other PBC is located. By writing routing tables to send the call to the other PBX and out the local trunks in that area, toll costs can be avoided. If a company has a great deal of business between areas, the cost can be in the thousands, a month. At some point, the monthly savings possible exceeds the cost of owning a Private Branch Exchange in a very short time frame. While there are risks with all technology, the gains usually outweigh them and proper management can mitigate risk. PBX technology is no different than any other in this aspect.

With media technology advancing as it has, devices such as Flare and Autopens will continue to gain popularity. Voip technology and the business PBX will also continue to sprint into the future. The biggest risk of each technology is it allows people to distance themselves and lose their humanity. Even Voip and the PBX allow people to telecommute, meaning no more trips to the office and less interaction with coworkers. Whenever mankind has misused technology, it has brought great sadness into the world. Hopefully the lessons of the past will prevent the misuse of what is before us now.

References

Avaya, 2011, The Avaya Flare experience guided tour, http://www.avaya.com/usa/campaign/avaya-flare-experience-guided-tour/

media technology. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22nd, 2011, from http://computer.yourdictionary.com/media-technology

Shear, Michael, 28 May, 2011, Stroke of an Autopen, in New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/us/politics/28sign.html