Define Office Automation 007

8/13/2019 Define Office Automation 007

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WHAT IS OFFICE AUTOMATION?

The term office automationrefers to all tools and methods that areapplied to officeactivities which make it possible to process written, visual,

and sound data in a computer-aided manner.

Office automation is intended to provide elements which make it possible to

simplify, improve, and automate the organization of the activities of a

company or a group of people (management of administrative data,

synchronization of meetings, etc.).

Considering that company organizations require increasedcommunication, today, office automation is no longer limited to simply

capturing handwritten notes. In particular, it also includes the following

activities:

Exchange of information. Management of administrative documents. Handling of numerical data.

Meeting planning and management of work schedules.

Definition1. Office automation is the action of using varied equipment, machinery and

software to store, manipulate and electronically capture or transfer data

necessary for business.

Key Employees Involved2. Employees involved in office automation include administrative assistants,

accounting personnel, IT specialists and anyone else who handles the day-

to-day operations of the business. Many times larger companies will have a

sizable customer service staff involved, too.


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Training3. Administrative staff must have knowledge of the latest computer software

packages, plus the ability to learn any proprietary software or databases the

company has acquired.

ADVANTAGES

4. Office automation can get many tasks accomplished faster, eliminating theneed for a larger staff. Less storage space is required for data, and copies

can be easily transferred off-site for safekeeping in case of fire or other

emergency. Multiple people can be updated simultaneously in the event of

schedule changes.

DISADVANTAGES

5. Older staff members may have a harder time adjusting to the newtechnology and be unable to use it efficiently. Also, if something is

"misfiled," it can be a lot harder to find. Other disadvantages include the

amount of money required to implement and the cost of maintenance of

certain equipment.


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BRIEF HISTORY OF AUTOMATION: THE PAST, PRESENT

AND FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

In 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer (PC) for use in the home,

office and schools. Prior to that time, there had been several MS-DOScompatible personal computers that ran DOS programs. As computers

became more widespread in the workplace (ie. an independent agent's

office), new ways to unleash their potential developed. As smaller computers

became more powerful, they could be linked together, or networked, to

share memory space, software and information, and communicate with each

other.

So where does the insurance industry enter the "automation" picture?

Independent agents have come a long way in using technology over the past20 years. From the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, independent agents

for the most part used PC-based automation systems to boost efficiency and

cut costs.

Since 1970, ACORD, a not-for-profit standards-setting association for the

insurance industry, has been involved in automation. The association is

comprised of carriers, agents, vendors, solution providers, associations and

other interested parties. "They aren't the ones who 'built' the automation

system," managing director of Standards for ACORD. "What we did and stilldo is provide standards-Forms and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) upon

which the vendors or solution providers base their automation systems."

They explained that to find out how the industry became automated, one

must look to the vendors and solution providers.

In 1972, the first ACORD form, a property loss notice, went into use. Today,

ACORD's standards include Forms, AL3 (Automation Level 3), XML, OLife and

ObjX. The Forms are point of sale, data collection vehicles, AL3 is ACORD's

EDI standard (or machine-to-machine, business-to-business, data

transmission formats or components), OLife is a data integration standard

and ObjX is "much more than EDI."

In the 1980s-when the number of PCs in use increased dramatically-ACORD

members asked for standardized electronic transmissions between the

agents' computers and the carriers' computers.


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"The industry has come to ACORD to consolidate efforts to eliminate

duplication of work,"."For example, without one approved, countrywide

ACORD application, all of the 2,400-plus insurance carriers would have to

have their own form. And the vendors or solution providers who automate

those forms would have to customize each form."

Now that ACORD and the industry are working hand-in-hand, there is one

form accepted and used by many of those carriers. In addition, the vendors

or solution providers have the option to become licensed by ACORD to

redistribute the Forms. "ACORD provides them with tools...to print the

ACORD Forms,". "ACORD's Forms efforts have stripped the costs out of this

distribution channel."

Same manner that the industry came together with ACORD to do Forms,

they have also worked to develop EDI Standards. "Through oursubcommittee process and strict compliance to anti-trust guidelines, They

bring together carriers, agents, vendors, solution providers and other

interested parties to discuss what is needed to transmit the data collected,".

Change is good

The industry on the whole, is slow to make changes, "although there are

some carriers that have the resources to be on the leading edge of

technology."

The beginning was a bit archaic. "Carriers realized the benefits of

automation and developed proprietary systems that they placed in the

agents' offices,". "This resulted in the agents having to physically go from

one terminal to another to interface with the carriers automating their

process."

With the inception of the agency management vendors and ACORD's

standards implemented in those systems, the agents were conceptually ableto eliminate those proprietary terminals and work through one system. "This

concept called SEMCI, Single Entry Multiple Company Interface, allowed

the agents to keep the data in one place and transmit it electronically to any

of the carriers it was licensed to represent," Durland explained.

One step forward, two steps back


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Ten years ago, when Durland joined ACORD, there were many agency

management systems attempting to enable SEMCI. "Today, due to

acquisitions and mergers, there are three primary vendors and a few smaller

ones,". "SEMCI is still the goal for the agents and the carriers. However, with

the inception of Web enabled processes, the carriers-in an effort tostreamline their costs-reverted back to proprietary applications.

"Those leading edge carriers put up Web sites that required the agent to go

to the site and enter the information. So instead of going to a separate

terminal in their office, they now had to connect to a Web site and rekey the

data that was already in their databases."

This resulted in the acceptance of the new standard XML. "XML is a standard

that enables connectivity between Web applications and agency

management systems, in addition to business-to-business, business-to-customer, etc.,".

The goal to secure SEMCI, can still happen with the implementation of XML.

"Plus it broadens the trading partner base to be more than the agent to

insurance carrier,".

A push forimplementation

In the 1990s, implementation guides were written and a certification process

was developed. Today, there are more than 12,000 upload and 40,000download implementations using AL3 standards. AL3 continues to evolve and

there are new implementations every day, including using AL3 standards

over the Internet.

Ever since the dawn of the industry's automation, forms standardization

continued and still continues to be an important focus for ACORD as the

standards-setting association works with many different trading partners

within the industry.

Today there are roughly 400 ACORD forms. And although it's important to

note how many forms there are, what is even more important to note is the

fact that these ACORD forms have eliminated or prevented 80,000

proprietary forms-saving the industry millions of dollars.


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Communicating on a global basis

ACORD has staff dedicated to building relationships with other standards-

setting organizations. The fact is, the industry handles business on a global

basis, so it just makes sense that the goal is to be able to communicate on a

global basis.

As an example, Durland pointed out that carriers write coverage for

properties owned by people all over the world. In turn, these carriers work

with other carriers or reinsurers to share the exposure.

When asked why it is so important for the industry to be automated, Durland

said, "Automation strips costs out of workflows." Simply put, to only have to

go to one place for information and to be able to service customers quickly

and efficiently is key.

"For example, the agent and carrier agree to indemnify the customer if they

have a loss which is covered under their policy. The customer pays a fee

based on that promise. When the loss occurs, they want someone to handle

it promptly...to be given information on the progression of the

resolution...and be paid or have the item replaced ASAP,".

Automation makes it possible

"With the technology and automation available to us today, the opportunitiesto share information are unlimited,". "The industry realizes that and is

working together to figure out how to communicate electronically with each

other."


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The History of the Motherboard

1924

The Tabulating Machine Company is renamed to IBM.

The tabulating machinewas an electrical device designed to assist in summarizinginformation and, later,accounting. Invented byHerman Hollerith, the machine was

developed to help process data for the1890 U.S. Census.It spawned a larger class

of devices known asunit record equipmentand the data processing industry.

1939

Hewlett Packard is founded.

William (Bill) HewlettandDavid (Dave) Packardboth graduated in electrical

engineering fromStanford Universityin 1935Hewlett-Packard Company( HP

specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, storage, and networking

hardware, software and services. Major product lines include personal computingdevices, enterprise servers, related storage devices, as well as a diverse range of

printers and other imaging products.

1947

The first transistor is invented.

The firsttransistor was invented at Bell Laboratories on December

16, 1947 by William Shockley (seated at Brattain's laboratory

bench), John Bardeen (left) and Walter Brattain (right). This was

perhaps the most important electronics event of the 20th century, as

it later made possible the integrated circuit and microprocessor that

are the basis of modern electronics. Prior to the transistor the only

alternative to its current regulation and switching functions

(TRANSfer resISTOR) was thevacuum tube, which could only be

miniaturized to a certain extent, and wasted a lot of energy in the

form of heat. Although video was possible with vacuum tube

equipment, as was the case with theAmpex VRX-1000,without the

transistor video products would never have gotten very small.

1957

DEC is founded. Digital Equipment Corporationwas a pioneeringAmerican company in thecomputerindustry. It is often referred to within the

computing industry as DEC
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1966

MoboCop was born. Motherboards.org

1967

IBM creates the first floppy disk.

30 years ago 100KB disks were the most effective

means of transferring data between computers.

Invented by IBM's Alan shugart in 1971, floppies

are made up of a 'floppy' magnetic storage disk

encased in a plastic square or rectangular outer shell.

over the years its size was reduced by more than half

with the 8" version being replaced by the 5.25" and

the 3.5" surpassing that. From the mid 1970s to the

late 1990s the format remained popular until theintroduction of flash and optical storage devices

such as CD-Rs and USB sticks.

1968

Intel Corp is founded.

Intelthe world's largestsemiconductorchip maker, based on

revenue. Intel was founded in 1968 byGordon E. Moore(of "Moore's

Law" fame, achemistandphysicist)andRobert Noyce(a physicist and

co-inventor of theintegrated circuit) when they leftFairchild

Semiconductor.

1969

AMD is founded.

AT&T Bell Laboratories develop Unix.Compuserve is founded.

Founded May 1,1969byJerry Sanders, Advanced Micro Devices has

became a large competitor in the Pentium-compatible chip market with

their own line of Intel-compatible processors.

1970

Intel releases the first microprocessor - the 4004.

Intel announces the 1103, the first random-access

memory (RAM).
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1972

The compact disc is invented.

A Compact Disc(also known as a CD) is anoptical discused to storedigital

data.It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but

later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have

been commercially available since October 1982. In 2009, they remain the

standard physical storage medium foraudio.

Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 mm and can hold up to 80 minutes of

uncompressed audio (700 MB of data). TheMini CDhas various diameters

ranging from 60 to 80 mm; they are sometimes used for CD singles or

device drivers, storing up to 24 minutes of audio

1974

Intel releases the 8080 microprocessor.

1975

MITS ships one of the first PCs, the Altair 8800 with one kilobyte (KB)

of memory: A mail-order kit for $397.00.Paul Allen and Bill Gates and

found Microsoft. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs found Apple Computer.

1976

Intel introduces the 8086 microprocessor.

Xerox develops the widely used networking protocol Ethernet.

1977

Star Wars debuts. ARCNET the first commercially network is

developed. The Apple II, the first personal computer with color

graphics is demonstrated.

1978

The 5.25-inch floppy disk becomes an industry standard.

Epson introduces the TX-80

1979

The Motorola 6800 is released.

The Intel 8088 is released.Phoenix is founded.
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Texas Instruments releases the TI 99/4 personal computer.

Hayes markets its first modem. Atari introduces coin-operated version

of Asteroids. 3COM is founded.

1980IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create DOS. Microsoft licenses

Unix and starts to develop a PC version, XENIX. The first Tandy Color

computer is introduced. AST is founded.

1981

Hewlett-Packard Superchip, the first 32-bit chip is

introduced. Intel ships the 8087 math coprocessor.

MS-DOS 1.0 was released. IBM releases its IBM PC, which runs on

DOS. Commodore ships the VIC-20, which later becomes the worlds

most popular computer costing only $299.95. Logitech is founded.

Adaptec is founded.

1982

The Intel 80286 processor is announced.

Peter Norton creates Norton Utilities. Sony releases its first Trinitron

monitor. Sun is incorporated. Compaq Computer Corp. is founded. MS-

DOS version 1.25 is released. Adobe is founded.

1983

The IBM XT is first introduced. The Apple IIe is introduced.

MS-DOS 2.0 was released. Microsoft Windows was announced

November, 1983

1984

ISA is expanded to 16-bit. The 3.5-inch floppy diskette is

introduced. Dell Computer is founded IBM develops EGA. Microsoftintroduces MS-DOS 3.0 for the IBM PC AT and MS-DOS 3.1 for

networks. The Tandy 1000 personal computer is introduced. University

of Southern California professor Fred Cohen creates alarm when he

warns the public about computer viruses. Kings Quest 1: Quest for the

crown is released to the public. MoboCop graduates from High School

Cirrus is founded.


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1985

Intel introduces the 80386. Microsoft and IBM begin

collaboration on the next-generation operating system (OS/2).

Gateway 2000 is founded. Microsoft Windows 1.0 is shipped. ATI is

founded.1986

MS-DOS 3.2 was released.

1987

Elite group Computer Systems (ECS) is established.

The SPARC processor is introduced by Sun.

IBM introduces VGA. IBM introduces MCA. MS-DOS 3.3 was released.

Microsoft and IBM release OS/2 1.0. IBM introduces the PS / 2

personal computers. IBM sends clone manufactures letters demanding

retroactive licensing fees.

1988

EISA is developed as an alternative to MCA.

Intel introduces the 16 MHz 80386SX microprocessor.

Creative Labs introduces the SoundBlaster MS-DOS 4.0 was released.

MS-DOS 4.01 was released.

1989

Intel releases the 486DX processor. Asus is founded.

1990

Intel releases the 80386SL processor. Microsoft releases

Windows 3.0. The World, the first commercial Internet dial-up access

provider comes online. Creative Labs introduces the SoundBlaster Pro.

Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operatingsystems. IBM introduces XGA.

1991

Intel introduces the Intel 486SX Advanced Micro

Devices introduces the Am386DX. The Enhanced Parallel

Port (EPP) is developed by Intel, Xircom and Zenith Data


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Systems. Linux is introduced. World Wide Web is launched. Microsoft

changes the name of OS/2 to Windows NT. MS-DOS 5.0 was released.

1992

Intel releases the 486DX2. Intel introduces the Peripheral

Component Interconnect (PCI).VESA local bus is introduced.

Microsoft and Hewlett Packard develops ECP.

1993

Intel develops PPGA. Intel releases the Pentium

Processor. IRDA is founded. The EPA establishes Energy Star.

PowerPC processor for the Apple Power Mac is introduced.

DOOM by IdSoftware was released. Myst is released.

1994A mathematical flaw in the Intel Pentium is discovered.

Intel releases the IntelDX4 processor. YAHOO is created

Netscape is founded. Commodore computers files Bankruptcy.

Microsoft releases its beta for Windows 95. Rasmus Lerdorf

creates PHP. MS-DOS 6.22 was released. Microsoft releases

Windows 3.11.

1995

Intel releases the new motherboard form factor ATX.

USB standard is released. Microsoft Releases Windows 95.

Amazon.com is officially opened.1996 Intel releases the 200 MHz

Pentium. Cyrix ships the 133 MHz Media GX processor. NEC

merges with Packard Bell. Creative Labs introduces the 3D Blaster

card.

1997

Intel introduces the MMX chip. The Intel Pentium II 233MHz processor is released. AMD introduces the K6

processor. Advanced Graphics Port or AGP design is released.

Cyrix is established. DVDs go on sale. Microsoft announces Windows

98.

1998


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Intel releases the 266 MHzCeleron processor. Intel

releases the 333, 350, and 400 MHz Pentium II.AMR is released

Award becomes part of Phoenix. Compaq purchases Digital

Equipment Corporation. Hearings open between Microsoft and the U.S.

Department of Justice. Microsoft Windows 98 is officially released.Apple introduces the iMac.

1999

Intel releases the Pentium III 500 MHz.

AMD releases the Athlon processor. Cyrix releases the MII

processor. Intel announces the Pentium III processor. VIA

Technologies announces it will acquire Cyrix from National

Semiconductor. NVIDIA introduces the GPU.

2000

CNR is introduced.

AMD introduces the 850 MHz Athlon processor. Intel begins

shipping a 1 GHz processor. Intel introduces the 400, 450, and

500 MHz mobile Celeron processors. Intel announces the

processor code-named "Willamette" will formally be called

Pentium 4. AMD releases the 1.1 GHz Athlon processor.Microsoft

Windows 2000 is released.

2001

Intel recalls its 1.13 GHz Pentium III processors.

Bill Gates unveils the Xbox. Microsoft Windows XP home and

professional editions are released.

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Define Office Automation 007