Understanding Office Automation
Office automation focuses on improving the effectiveness and performance of organizations by leveraging on existing information technology. It functions like an integrated system that is made of hardware, software and networking which are used to digitally create, store, manipulate and transmit office information to achieve certain goals and tasks.
The adoption of office automation has grown in recent years and smart offices ensure maximum utilization of available information technologies and improved operational effectiveness. Office automation allows organizations to be more transparent through improved efficiency in the sharing of information thus creating a great deal of impact throughout the industry sector and the business in general. Microsoft office suite is the best example of an office automated system as it contains document and data processing tools such as: spreadsheets word processing, and power point and excel for data management.
Office Automation Characteristics
Facility management software presents the best example for a contemporary office automation system used to manage and automate various operations at the workplace. An office automation system is characterized by various key components which include: the ability to support various integrated software packages; integration of people, procedure and technology; sophisticated process consisting of electronic and communication systems; essential documenting, word processing and presentation designing software connected together through a local area network and computers.
How Can Office Automation Help?
Office automation can help big companies and startup SMES through improved data storage, manipulation and management. When data is stored in a digital format it can be manipulated easily. Office automation facilitates easy preparation, editing and data transmission in appropriate formats. The system can also allow for data exchange within and outside the organization. Information communication technologies such as Skype and emails that come with the office automation system allow the sharing of text documents, images, video files or spreadsheet files through a network connection. Other advantages include time management, inventory management and office efficiency management.