Zwischen Videotelefonie und Datenaustausch - Bürokommunikation im Managementbereich

Personel contact can be extremely important in the domain of the higher management. Often they have to travel a lot. In order to support the communication tasks of this target group, an "office broadband communication" system (OBC system) was developed and testet in pilot trials. The OBC system combined video communication, interactive data communication, and data transfer, together with PC functions like word processing. The OBC system was most often applied when it was necessary to use written or grafical information (e.g. layouts, brochures) during the communication situation. The pilot users felt that by using an OBC system the co-operation with external partners is improving and intensifying. Consequences of the use of OBC are for example higher flexibility because of easier information exchange and the possibilities of spontaneous discussions of problems with external partners, the possibility to change the organisation of work, and the improvement of results because of more deta iled discussions. Additional, a rough estimation of the market potential of the management job domain was made on the basis of data from the IAB, Federal Institute for Labour of Germany. In 1985 these jobs correspond to a total of 2.2 million employed persons. The analysis showed that a multimedia system like the OBC system will be needed most at such work places where face-to-face communication, as well as document communication is very important. In the management domain the demand is expected in the middle hierarchie, and in the top segment of project management.