OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

An Office Automation System (OAS) facilitates everyday information processing tasks in offices and business organizations. These systems include a wide range of tools such as spreadsheets, word processors, and presentation packages. Although telephones, e-mail, v-mail, and fax can be included in this category, we will treat communication systems as a separate category. 

OASs help people perform personal recordkeeping, writing, and calculation chores efficiently. Of all the system types, OASs and communication systems are the most familiar to students. Tools generally grouped within the OAS category include: 

-Spreadsheets are an efficient method for performing calculations that can be visualized in terms of the cells of a spreadsheet. Although spreadsheet programs seem second nature today, the first spreadsheet program was VisiCalc, which helped create the demand for the first personal computers in the late 1970s.

-Text and image processing systems store, revise, and print documents containing text or image data. These systems started with simple word processor but have evolved to include desktop publishing systems for creating complex documents ranging from brochures to book chapters.

-Presentation packages help managers develop presentations independently, instead of working with typists and technical artists. These products automatically convert outlines into printed pages containing appropriately spaced titles and subtitles. These pages can be copied directly onto transparencies or slides used in presentations.

-Personal database systems and note-taking systems help people keep track of their own personal data (rather than the organization’s shared data.) Typical applications include an appointment book and calendar, a to do list, and a notepad. 

When using these tools for personal productivity purposes, users can apply any approach they want because the work is unstructured. In these situations, some individuals use them extensively and enjoy major efficiency benefits, whereas others do not use them at all. The same tools can also be used for broader purposes; however, in which they are incorporated into larger systems that organizations use to structure and routinize tasks. For example, a corporate planning system may require each department manager to fill in and forward a pre-formatted spreadsheet whose uniformity will facilitate the corporations planning process.