Graham Wylde is Product Manager - Information and Core Services at TWI, and Head - Industrial Member Services.
Sheila Thomas is Principal Information Scientist at TWI, and TWI's Webmaster
Owned by nobody, the Internet has turned traditional communication techniques on their head in the last decade. Graham Wylde and Sheila Thomas examine how it functions, how Industrial Members can benefit from its use and how TWI is capitalising on the adoption of e-mail and the web to improve its services.
Introduction
Communication is vital to everyone. Companies rely on communications for all aspects of their business. This is particularly true for any service orientated company like TWI. Development of the Internet represents the most fundamental change in communications since invention of the telephone. Until recently many companies were slow to see the benefits, seeing the net as exclusive province of computer buffs, hackers and other strange creatures. This is no longer the case. Millions of companies and individuals worldwide have recognised the enormous potential offered by the net, making it today the fastest growing communication medium in the world.
Information on virtually anything can be available in minutes to users anywhere. A user can download information to their terminal when they need it, on any subject. Furthermore, they can communicate with any one else in the world who is connected to the Internet. The system is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
What is the Internet
The Internet is just a network of networks. Just as the computers in an office or company can be linked to each other so that they can share files and have access to printers, so can these local networks be linked to other networks. This is what the Internet is, just a very large network of computers all linked up, usually making use of telephone cables.
Where did it come from?
It started about 20 years ago in America. The US government set up a network of computers for military research. In particular they wanted a network that would still function when some parts of it were damaged; it is this which makes the Internet we have now so robust. It wasn't long before the academics saw the advantage of sharing computing power and data over the whole country and attached the university computers to the network. Other countries soon saw the advantages and joined in, eg the UK had its university computers linked into the JANET system and it was an easy step to attach this to the growing international network.
The Internet functioned as a system for military and academia for quite a long time before it became easy for commercial organisations to participate. Over the past four years, service providers have made access to the network available to companies and individuals and the whole thing is now growing at a huge rate.
How big is it?
Figures projected to 1999 show 100 million users worldwide. See graph (Fig.2) for current level.
Who owns it?
There is no one company that owns the Internet; everyone looks after their own part of the system. The Internet Society is a group of volunteers who agree the basic rules by which the networks work together and how data is passed around the world, but neither they nor anyone else can control the system or the data flowing over it.
E-Mail and how TWI is using it
TWI's e-mail address is twi@twi.co.uk
The electronic mail (e-mail) system in use at TWI allows us to send messages to, and receive messages from, anyone in the world who has an Internet-compatible e-mail address, ie one with the @ sign in it.
It has many significant advantages over other forms of communication:
- Your message costs no more than a local phone call, unlike a fax.
- The recipient doesn t have to be there when you send it, unlike the phone. This is particularly useful when communicating with people in different time zones.
- Your message will travel through the Internet, sometimes in a matter of seconds, and once it reaches its destination, it will wait until the recipient decides to look at their e-mail. So it isn't intrusive like a phone call.
- You can send more than just a short message; provided you put it into a suitable format, you can send word processed documents, computer programs and pictures
E-mail contact with TWI Members
In the relatively short time that TWI has been using e-mail, it has seen such a dramatic increase in e-mail traffic, that it already represents the second most common means of communication after the telephone. Every day TWI receives many hundreds of e-mails from members all over the world. Indeed many overseas clients have been quick to see the advantages of being able to send messages at any time of their day, and to receive responses direct to their desk.
A big benefit of e-mail is the ability to distribute or duplicate easily to colleagues. For example, an e-mail request received by one member of staff, unable to respond to all points directly, can forward this to any number of colleagues immediately for their input. Further, TWI has formed an electronic masterfile to hold copies of all e-mail communications with members, should any be referred to in the future.
Clearly another hidden benefit of this form of communication is that it can readily be stored in a computer file, hopefully drastically reducing the amount of paperwork. Of course, paper copies can always be made if they are essential, but the majority of e-mail messages do not end up as printed paper.
Most TWI staff now have their own e-mail address, in addition to a host of more generic addresses. All individual e-mail addresses follow the same basic format, as illustrated by the authors' addresses:
J G Wylde - graham.wylde@twi.co.uk
S M Thomas - sheila.thomas@twi.co.uk
In addition there are many generic numbers, such as:
joining_forces@twi.co.uk
library@twi.co.uk
meetings@twi.co.uk.co.uk
twi@twi.co.uk
Companies wishing to communicate directly with an individual can use that individual's address. If you do not know who to contact, one of the generic addresses may be more suitable. However, the ease of passing messages between staff means that there should never be any delay caused by messages not going directly to the best individual for a reply.
World Wide Web and how TWI is using it
TWI's URL is http://www.html.co.uk
In the last year or so, the World Wide Web (WWW) service has developed to overshadow most of the other things one can do on the Internet, mainly because its point-and-click interface make it very easy to use. It is also the only part of the Internet where advertising won't upset other users so commercial organisations are adopting it enthusiastically.
Any individual or organisation can make text, pictures, sounds and video available this way using the hypertext markup language. This set of instructions tells the user's computer how to display the information. Its most innovative feature is the facility to link one piece of information with another in a way that lets the user click the mouse on a highlighted word or a picture to call up other, usually related, information. For example, the first page might show an index to a long document, from this one would select which section to jump to instead of having to go through the sections in order.
On the TWI WWW site we offer information on all TWI products, services and activities:
- membership for individuals and companies (Industrial, Professional, WJS etc.)
- training and certification
- information services (technical enquiries, library and Weldasearch)
- consultancy capabilities
- research and development including our technical achievements, Core Research activities and Group Sponsored Projects
- help for small businesses through Joining Forces
- news about TWI - recent news releases
- services for specific industry sectors (Oil and Gas; Power Generation; Automotive; Shipbuilding)
- lists of TWI conferences, seminars, workshops, etc
- recent issues of Connect and all the Job Knowledge for Welders series of articles
- contact details for TWI agents and affiliates worldwide
We are currently receiving an average of 181 visitors to our website every day.
The future
TWI has major plans to introduce a quantum change in the level of service that it provides to its Members through the Internet. These plans are already well under way, and further announcements will be made.
These plans involve a complete change in the way that we currently communicate with our Members. For example, last year TWI produced over 40 detailed technical reports, there were six issues of the Bulletin, and ten issues of Connect, not to mention the dozens of conference papers, and other forms of technical reports. All of these were either sent directly to Members, or were available to them upon request. In addition, TWI produced over 800 confidential reports for its clients. Virtually all of this material was distributed via the post.
Within a finite timescale, Members will be able to access all of this information via the Internet. Thus, if we take the example of a Members Report, it will be available to any member of staff at a Member company to download from TWI's pages on the Internet. Furthermore, they will also have access to all previous reports on related topics, which they will be able to identify by simple search routines.
Members may soon be able to choose to receive their Bulletin via the Internet or by e-mail rather than in paper format. Articles and information supplied in this fashion can contain direct links to further relevant information.
A large amount of other information that is currently only available on paper will soon be available in electronic format for those who wish to receive it in that way. It is anticipated that most Members will quickly see the benefits of this kind of distribution for information.
