What are Types of Communication Technology?

Introduction

 

Imagine you're standing in your neighbourhood and talking to your neighbours; that's communication. Is it, however, communication technology? Communication is defined as everything that involves sending, receiving, and responding to someone's message.

 

This is an example of face-to-face communication. Communication technology, on the other hand, is used when you communicate via a written letter, Instant Messaging, push-to-talk or cell phones.

 

Communication technology is the transmission of communications between people through a machine, which is technology. This information process can assist humans in making decisions, solving issues, and controlling machines.

 

Most individuals cannot envisage a world without communication technology. Before communication technology, the amount of time and energy spent on transmitting the simplest communications was greater than what can be stated in 140 characters or fewer.

 

Things have changed a little. The introduction of technology into many forms of communication has made information sharing easier than before. 

 

Despite the fact that there are a variety of gadgets, software, and tools linked with communication technology, it is not uncommon for the modern communicator to be an expert in all of them.

 

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Types of communication Technology

 

Technology has made it possible for humans to connect with one another and distribute information to large audiences in a variety of ways. Radio and the telephone were early innovations that grew into massive, global networks of underwater cables and satellites. 

 

Technology has increased the speed and variety with which we can connect, even allowing us to transmit photographs and videos around the world from a gadget that fits in our pocket.

 

1. Telegraph

 

A telegraph is a type of communication system in which data is communicated across a wire using a sequence of electrical current pulses, often in the form of Morse code. A direct current source, a length of wire or cable, and a current-indicating device such as a relay, buzzer, or light bulb are the fundamental components.

 

The phrase is derived from the Greek terms "tele," which means "far away," and "graphein," which means "to write." More than 150 years have passed since the invention of the telegraph. 

 

Joseph Henry presented the telegraph prototype in 1830. Samuel F. B. Morse modified and extended this invention into a system that employed a solenoid with a marker to record several pulses of different length on a moving strip of paper.

 

These pulses were represented by dots and dashes. Letters of the alphabet, single-digit numbers, and punctuation signs were allocated patterns of these dots and dashes. The first official Telegraph transmission was sent on May 1, 1844.’

 

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2. Radio

 

Wireless signals are used by radio systems to transmit speech, data, and video. Other Innovators, such as Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi, experimented with delivering signals over the air using high-frequency electrical circuits and antennas not long after Bell invented the telephone. 

 

Radio systems pioneered the notion of broadcasting, in which thousands of listeners receive voice and music from a single transmitter. The definition of radio now encompasses everything from traditional broadcast stations to cell phones and wireless data networks.

 

(Learn more about wireless technology as Lifi Technology)

 

3. Telephone

 

Television is another technique to reach a large number of people, but it added a new benefit: visual communication. Further electrical research led to the development of the telephone in the late 1800s.

 

The telephone, like the telegraph, conveys electrical messages over wires to a distant receiver; instead of staccato clicks, which need training to interpret, telephone cables transport genuine speech sounds. 

 

Although telephones and telegraphs coexisted for decades, telegraphs are now primarily museum objects; in 2012, telephones remain the predominant mode of personal communications.

 

There are now thousands of television stations that broadcast information on practically any subject, including history, sports, news, science fiction, and so on. People are always looking to television for information, whether it is for amusement or serious facts.

 

4. Satellite

 

A satellite is an item that has been purposely sent into orbit in the context of spaceflight. To distinguish them from natural satellites such as Earth's Moon, these objects are referred to as artificial satellites.

 

Although radio waves successfully transmit signals, long-distance communications are hindered by the ionosphere, a tiny layer of energetic plasma that exists above the breathing atmosphere. 

 

Satellites overcome the distance issue by receiving radio signals in orbit, amplifying them, and retransmitting them to ground-based receivers hundreds of kilometres away. Satellite networks enabled the first instantaneous, global communications in the 1960s.

 

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5. Internet

 

The Internet got its start in the 1960s as part of a military research project called the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. It was an early data network that allowed computer users in various places to share data.

 

The internet eliminates the need for communicators to own a device for each sort of communication technology. With the Internet, you can accomplish everything in one location. Any sort of communication is made simple by the tools accessible on the internet. 

 

Video conferencing software allows for both verbal and nonverbal communication. Email may be used to send written communications. Pictures in electronic form may be sent to and from any internet device.

 

Another example of one of these technologies is customer communication software. While other gadgets facilitate connection between a firm and its customers, certain technologies are frequently labelled hybrid - combining several sorts of communication. (Source)

 

Examples of communication technology

 

We can't fathom living in a world without communication tools. All programmes and equipment utilised for data processing and transmission are referred to as communication technology. It has effectively invaded every part of our life, allowing for newer, quicker, and better ways to connect, access data, network, and learn. 

 

Here are some of the examples of technologies that are used for communication.

 

1. Social media

 

This is, without a doubt, one of the most successful communication tools in recent years. Individuals may use social media sites to build personal profiles, publish profile photographs and updates about their life, and create a friend list of people who can see their posts.

 

6 Degrees, the first social media site, was created in 1997. MySpace, which debuted in 2003, was the first widespread social networking site. Between 2005 and 2008, it was the most popular social networking site in the world.

 

2. Blog & Vlog

 

Blogs are essentially personal websites where you can upload information for anyone to view from anywhere in the world. Blogs are used by businesses for publicity, while professional bloggers use them to generate money through affiliate marketing. Blogging has transformed communication.

 

Video logs, a logical extension of blogging. People may now upload videos to the Internet because of increasing bandwidth availability. Vloggers typically record themselves with portable cameras.

 

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3. Live video streaming

 

Live video is a vlogging extension that has reacted to the requirements of internet content consumers for immediacy and authenticity.

 

In April 2011, YouTube's video sharing platform added live video. Facebook Live, a competitor network, was launched in August 2015. The ability to play, stop, and rewind video in real time is a key feature of a live video broadcast. 

 

A video is not sent as a separate data packet that can be watched only after it has been entirely received on the receiver's end. Instead, the data is downloaded in real time, buffered, then played again.

 

4. Smart speakers

 

Smart speakers are computerised personal assistants that are deployed around companies and homes to aid individuals in doing activities without using their hands. They are often triggered with a hot phrase, such as 'Hey Computer,' 'OK Google,' or, more recently, "alexa." 

 

Smart speakers can hear people from a long distance away, allowing people to utilise them while going about their business. 

 

When prompted by a hot word, the user asks the device questions or issues voice commands such as 'turn off the lights,' 'add this to the shopping list,' or 'play music.'

 

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5. Wearable technology

 

Wearable technology makes it easier to communicate than ever before. Any information technology that is carried on the body is considered wearable technology. Smart watches, smart eyewear, and workout bands are just a few examples.

 

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6. Web conferencing

 

This has enabled employees to speak with one another over large distances in a seamless manner. With the present epidemic, this has become a must to ensure that work can be done remotely.

 

7. Email

 

While email has been present since at least the 1970s, it is included on this list due to its continued significance in the twenty-first century.

 

In reality, email predates the internet by several decades. Emails were first sent through closed-circuit LAN networks in government and academic databases. In 1971, the first email employing the '@' sign to guide messages to the appropriate servers was sent.

 

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8. Group forum

 

A group forum enables users to post questions and answers to which others can react. Many forums, such as Reddit, are organised by subject, allowing users with similar interests to engage with one another.

 

9. Podcasts

 

Podcasts are audio information packets that may be posted and kept on cloud technology for anybody to download and listen to at their leisure. A podcast may be automatically downloaded onto a smartphone using RSS feeds, allowing followers of a podcast series to obtain the latest episodes whenever they choose.

 

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Conclusion

 

In terms of communication technology, we have gone a long way. We have witnessed the growth of technology, from telephone booths to personal cell phones. Communication technology has become so crucial to us that our lives would be put on pause if it did not exist. 

 

And video calls are the sole reason why long-distance relationships function. I mean, long-distance relationships wouldn't stand a chance if Skype were not around.