Introduction to office automation

1, definition

In ancient office activities, people used to use pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Handwritten notes, as well as delivery of office documents and letters, mainly rely on horses as a means of transportation. In modern times, although some advanced office equipment such as mechanical typewriters, telephones and telegrams have been applied, they still cannot meet the needs of social development. Nowadays, with the wide application of modern communication technology and means, advanced equipment such as computers, printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines have become important tools in daily office activities, which has accelerated the process of office automation. As early as the 1940s, some enterprises in the United States began to use machines to handle office business, which was then called office automation. With the rapid development of economy, science and technology, especially information technology, office automation has already surpassed the narrow office category and quickly penetrated into the management category. People collectively call it office automation (OA).

Office automation is the use of advanced science and technology to materialize a part of people's office business activities into various modern office equipment other than people. These equipment and office staff form a service man-machine information processing system for a certain purpose.

This definition emphasizes three points:

① Adopt advanced science and technology and modern office equipment;

② Man-machine information processing system composed of office staff and office equipment;

③ Improving efficiency and quality is the aim of OA.

Office automation is mainly aimed at the efficiency and quality of office workers, and it focuses on solving the man-machine interface problem between people and office equipment. Based on modern office equipment, it is a system composed of hardware and software. A relatively complete office automation system is a whole closely related to personnel, office equipment and information resources.

Generally speaking, office automation is to use modern equipment and technology to completely or partially replace the business activities of office staff and handle office information and office affairs with high quality and efficiency. At present, office automation organically combines computer technology, communication technology, scientific management thought and behavioral science, and is applied to the office affairs of massive data (including non-numerical information and information with unclear structure) which are difficult to be processed by traditional data processing technology, effectively improving the office quality and efficiency.

1. The nature of office work

There are many functions of the office, which are manifested in two aspects in the final analysis: first, dealing with office information; The second is to generate office information. Common office information mainly includes words, reports, languages, graphics and images.

2. The main content of office automation

Office automation organically combines modern technology and equipment, scientific management ideas and behavioral science, and applies it to office work to improve office quality and efficiency. Early office automation mainly used computers, photocopiers and other stand-alone equipment to replace a lot of repetitive work of office workers. However, modern office automation has formed a man-machine system, which makes some office activities be completed by equipment instead of people. The main contents of office automation include word processing, report processing, numerical and non-numerical calculation, graphics and image processing, language processing, communication, information storage and management, schedule management and decision-making assistance.

2. Features

Office automation is one of the most important signs of the information society, which has the following characteristics: First, it has the following characteristics:

1. Office automation is a new discipline which integrates various technologies and is developing rapidly all over the world.

The theoretical basis of office automation is behavioral science, management science, system engineering, sociology, ergonomics and so on. Its technical basis is computer technology, communication technology and automation technology. Among them, computer technology, communication technology, system science and behavioral science are the four pillars or four supporting technologies of office automation. Generally speaking, office automation is based on behavioral science and system science, and comprehensively uses computer technology and communication technology to complete various office services. Office automation is not a branch of simple automation science, but a product of information society and a comprehensive subject technology.

2. Office automation is a man-machine information system.

In the office automation system? People? It is the decisive factor, the designer, commander and user of information processing; And then what? Machine? It refers to office equipment, which is a necessary condition of office automation and a tool and means of information processing. Information is the processing object in office automation, which fully embodies the relationship between people, machines and information. A typical OA system should include four basic links: information collection, information processing, information transmission and information preservation. The core task is to provide information to all levels.

3. Office automation integrates office information.

Information usually takes the following forms:

? Text: refers to various documents, letters, files, manuscripts, etc. ;

? Language: telephone, voice mail, voice file, etc.

? Data: including data files, reports and records.

? Images: there are dynamic images such as video conference and TV supervision;

? Graphics: including static graphics, such as sample photos, statistical charts and fax images.

Office system integrates office equipment based on different technologies in a networked way, and combines various forms of information into a computer-based system, so that the office really has the function of comprehensively processing these information.

The goal of office automation is clear, which is to improve office efficiency and quality.

Office automation is an auxiliary means for people to generate higher value information, making office appliances an intelligent comprehensive tool.

Office automation integrates many independent office functions, which improves the degree of automation, thus improving office efficiency, facilitating office work, obtaining greater benefits and having a positive impact on the information society. Its main features are:

(1) office automation is a comprehensive subject involving secretarial, administrative, electronic, mechanical, physical and other disciplines and using computer, communication, automation and other technologies.

(2) Office automation is a man-machine system integrating human, computer and information resources. It includes four basic links: information collection, processing, transmission and preservation.

(3) Office automation includes the comprehensive processing function of text, data, language, images and other information.

(4) Office automation can handle office information and affairs with high quality and high efficiency.

Office automation system can be divided into three levels, or three subsystems. They are transaction processing, information management and decision support subsystems. As shown above.

Among the above three levels, transaction processing is the most basic level, information management is the second level and decision support is the highest level. They are interdependent and interrelated. Decision support depends on the information provided by the information management layer, which in turn depends on the collection, processing and screening of information by the transaction processing layer. The connection between the three levels can be realized by calling computer data and programs. At present, the most common office automation system in China is transaction processing level, which is still in the stage of gradual development and improvement.

3. Operation combination

1. Send and receive management

The management of sending and receiving documents is mainly responsible for the whole process of document drafting, sending and receiving, examination and approval, filing, inquiry, retrieval and printing. The existing drafters draft official documents, and then send them to the approver through the network, and issue them after approval. When a document is received, it will be registered first and then sent to the official document planner. After the document planner specifies the batch office and the contractor, the document will be automatically sent to the batch office and the contractor, and finally filed by a special person. All kinds of official documents have corresponding security mechanisms and corresponding confidentiality levels. By specifying different permissions of different levels of personnel, online document query can also be realized. Issue management is used to realize the computer automatic control of internal documents from drafting, marking, issuing, sorting and filing, so as to realize the automation of document issuance.

2. Management of resigned personnel

The management of foreign personnel mainly realizes the registration management of foreign personnel through bulletin board system. People who go out use this bulletin board to announce their reasons for going out, their contact information when going out, their time of going out, their designated work agents and matters when going out, and they can also inform relevant personnel of their news of going out. After returning from going out, cancel the notice of going out through the network.

3. Meeting management

In the traditional way, it is a headache to hold a meeting with a large number of documents, but in the OA way, it is much easier, and it can realize remote real-time meeting control on the network and online transmission of graphics and audio. And meetings can be arranged and managed through the browser.

4. Leadership activities arrangement

Mainly responsible for the unified coordination and arrangement of the work and activities of the office leaders, including the arrangement of weekly activities and daily activities. Relevant personnel can arrange schedules accordingly, arrange corresponding work and avoid conflicts.

5. Forum management

The so-called forum, similar to the bulletin board in real life, is used by people in the system to post relevant public information on it. Forum management is mainly responsible for the management of this information, such as information classification, update and so on. Bulletin boards can be used to publish various notices or other public information. E-mail can be opened internally, and it has the ability to communicate with the outside of the system and even the Internet. Leaders and business people at all levels can easily access almost all work-related materials, information and other data in a unified graphic environment, even at home or on business trips.

6. Individual user management

The personal user workbench is used to manage all my work in a unified way, such as arranging schedules and activities, viewing and processing the day's work, and storing personal information and records. In addition, individual users can exchange opinions, discuss problems and deliver materials with other units or individuals through e-mail. 7.E-mail e-mail system can complete information sharing, work marking process, file transfer and other functions. 8. Telecommuting

Every staff member can't guarantee to work in the office all the time. When you are far away from the office or on a business trip, but you really need to know some data information of the unit; When you want to set up several offices far away from your company, you can complete all office-related functions by connecting remote computers such as telephone network and DDN special line.

9. Archives management

Office automation system can realize interactive labor and personnel management. Combining employee data with attendance system, salary management and personnel management can effectively improve work efficiency, reduce management costs and realize high-speed real-time query management.

10. Comprehensive information

Provide the telephone number inquiry of employees in this unit to improve the communication between employees and this unit and the outside world; Provide inquiries about relevant laws and regulations at home and abroad, and provide relevant consulting services. Public information service not only enables companies to enjoy information from other information resources, but also enables all sectors of society to enjoy information that can be disclosed by the government, enterprises and institutions, such as corporate image publicity.

1 1.

Provide inquiries and specific information retrieval of major newspapers and magazines at home and abroad. Completely change the traditional manual operation mode. Sort out, refine and save all kinds of useful government and enterprise information, and provide users with an environment to enjoy information. Provide information query, statistics and analysis functions to assist leaders in making decisions.

4. Development at home and abroad

Office automation has developed rapidly in developed countries such as the United States and Japan. This table shows the development of the United States, while Japan is relatively backward.

The development of OA system in the world is very rapid, and governments all over the world attach great importance to the development of their own OA systems and have invested huge sums of money. Office automation in the United States has developed earlier than government departments in companies and enterprises, and its level is also high. Companies and enterprises regard OA not only as a means to improve efficiency and save costs, but also as an important condition to strengthen management, improve enterprise quality and competitiveness.

After 1990s, the development trend of office automation abroad is: 1)OA equipment is developing towards high performance, multifunction, compounding and systematization;

2)OA system is developing towards digitalization, intelligence, paperless and integration;

3) The office workstation with computer as the core will develop into multimedia processing of words, data, sounds and graphics;

4) The position of communication in OA system will be further promoted, and modern communication technology can be fully utilized to establish a global network system.

China's office automation technology started late. It was introduced to China in 1970s, and it was really valued and developed in 1980s. This table shows the development of our country.

The development of office automation in China has the characteristics of late start and rapid development. First of all, it serves politics, economy and national defense. The state has invested in the construction of a large-scale information management system 12 in economy, science and technology, banking, railways, posts and telecommunications, transportation, electronics, energy, meteorology, military affairs, public security and national high-level leading organs. It is a first-class OA system with large scale, complete system, high technology and modern management efficiency. At present, the office automation system in China is developing towards the international level of integration, networking, multimedia and intelligence.

The realization of office automation will not only replace part of the secretary's work, but also cause profound changes in office system, working methods, office processes, traditional habits, working environment and decision-making process, making office behavior scientific, standardized and standardized. The experience of various countries shows that national economic modernization must rely on the improvement of management level and office automation at all levels. Therefore, office automation will have a far-reaching impact on all aspects of our social life.

5, office automation equipment

In order to have and improve the functions of the office automation system, it is necessary to equip the office staff with corresponding office hardware and software resources in addition to the corresponding knowledge training. In the main business of modern office management, such as text editing, information processing, information transmission, information retrieval and so on. Computers are inseparable and are a leading role in office automation. Therefore, in the office automation system, the computer is the essential core equipment. The diagram shows the hardware and software components of the office automation system.

The hardware of office automation system refers to the actual devices and equipment in the office automation system, and the software refers to the computer program compiled by the computer for operation, management, maintenance and application development.

? Communication equipment: such as LAN, telephone, telex, etc.

? Output equipment: such as image scanner, copier, fax machine, etc.

? System software: such as operating system, language translator, etc.

? Supporting software: such as database management system.

? General software: such as word processing system, graphic processing system, etc.

? Special software: salary management system, book management system, etc.

An electronic computer is usually called a computer. There are many kinds of computers, which can be divided into supercomputers, mainframes, small and medium-sized computers, microcomputers and portable computers. According to the purpose, it can be divided into special computer and general computer. At present, the most commonly used multimedia general microcomputer in the office.

A computer system must be composed of hardware and software. Only when the two are organically combined and complement each other can the system play its role. In fact, in the development of computer technology, computer software develops with the rapid development of hardware technology. In turn, the continuous development and improvement of software has promoted the new development of hardware.

Printer is one of the main output devices of office automation system. Printers are divided into two series of products: impact type and non-impact type. The impact type is mainly needle dot matrix printer, and the non-impact type includes laser, inkjet and thermal dye sublimation.

In 1950s, American Xerox Company introduced the first commercial copier.

According to the development mode of copier, it can be divided into single component and double component.

According to the color of copying, it can be divided into monochrome and color.

By copier size: popular (A3), portable, large-scale engineering drawings (A2 or above). Depending on the type of paper used: special paper and ordinary copy paper.

According to the imaging processing mode: digital, analog.

Fax machine is a communication means to transmit still images. It can transmit documents, charts, handwriting, photos and other paper still image signals from one end to the other through communication lines, and print them on paper to get the same hard copy as the sent documents. Therefore, some people call it remote replication.

English is a fax, which is widely expressed in the world.

Scanner is a high-tech product of optical, mechanical and electrical integration, and it is the most widely used input device of computer except keyboard and mouse. Scanners have many uses. For example, they can be used to import photos to create byte electronic photo albums. Enter all kinds of pictures to build your own website; Scan handwritten letters and send them by e-mail instead of fax; You can also use scanners and OCR software to input the contents of newspapers or books, so as to avoid the hard work of inputting Chinese characters by keyboard. The extraordinary functions of these scanners make us improve efficiency and increase fun in office, study, entertainment and other aspects.

Digital camera is a special camera that can shoot optical images and convert them into electronic images stored in digital format through internal processing.

6. Introduction of office software

Microsoft Office is an office automation software developed by Microsoft Corporation, and Office XP is the latest version (fourth generation).

Word is mainly used for text input, editing, typesetting and printing. , which can be used for letters, official documents, reports, papers, business contracts, writing and typesetting.

Excel is mainly used for budget, finance and data summary with heavy tasks. PowerPoint is mainly used to make presentations, slides and slides, even greeting cards, flowcharts, organization charts, etc.

Access is a desktop database system and database application;

Outlook is a desktop information management application, which can be used for contact list, schedule and so on.

FrontPage is mainly used to make and publish web pages on the Internet.

The contents of these softwares can be called and connected with each other, and data resources can also be shared by using the copy and paste function.

Smartsuite of Lotus Company is another popular office suite, which is widely used in business office.

WPS was launched by Zhuhai Jinshan Software Co., Ltd..

Open Office Five years ago, a German company named Star began to develop a cross-platform office software, StarOffice, and provided free downloads. It is the only product in the world that is very close to Microsoft Office and can be cross-platform. Two years ago, Sun Company acquired Star Software Company and continued to develop it. Until June 65438+1October 65438+March 2000, an amazing news came out: Sun made most of the source code of StarOffice public and set up an organization specializing in the development of open source office software.

At present, the software developed based on OpenOffice follows two protocols: GPL protocol with open source code or SISSL commercial copyright protocol without open source code, and RedOffice follows the latter.

The above introduces the basic concept of office automation, the main functions of office automation system, the basic knowledge of common modern office equipment such as microcomputer, printer, copier and fax machine, and briefly introduces the application occasions of common office software. This paper focuses on the knowledge introduction of office automation, so that everyone can understand the related concepts and basic knowledge of office automation and lay the foundation for later operation and application.

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