Communication is defined as the process of disseminating or passing across information, ideas, messages, and feelings from the senders to the receivers. Communication facilities buying and selling of goods and services; it also facilitates buying and selling goods and services on a large scale as it enables or provides a platform for the buyer and seller to contact and strike a business deal.
Means of communication
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Communication has the way it gets across to other people from certain channels. The channels through which the communication or messages are passed are called means of communication. Means of communication are grouped into two, namely traditional means of communication and modern means of communication
Traditional means of communication
These types of communication are means used in the olden days in which messages are disseminated or passed from the sender to the receiver. Consider the examples below.
Trumpet or flute: The flute or trumpet is used to produce meaningful sounds to convey various messages to the receivers. The sounds will make the villagers gather for meetings.
King’s herald or messengers: This is to pass information or messages by the sender called messenger across to the people in the village.
Talking drum: The talking drum is very active in the olden days to send messages to people. It is used by beating a drum to produce different sounds that mean different messages to people. The village head used this in the olden days to assemble his people.
Face-to-face communication: Face-to-face communication occurs when the sender of the message meets face-to-face with the sender and uses language to pass across his message.
Shouting: This is another traditional way of passing across messages. The sender shouts and poses across the message to someone that is afar.
Color: This occurs when different colors are used to pass different messages to people. For example, red means stop and danger, blank is used to mourn while white color means peace.
Town criers or gongs: A town crier or gong goes from one place to another to pass across information or messages to people.
Palm frond: This means peace during rancor and ceremony.
Modern means of communication
These types of communication are means used these days in which messages are disseminated or passed from the sender to the receiver. Consider the examples below.
Letters or Postal services: These are otherwise known as mail. It is one of the means of passing across messages which could be hand-delivered or posted through the post office called NIPOST in Nigeria to the receivers. A postal service is a means of sending information where envelopes and stamps are made use of writing on a piece of paper to send to the desired place.
Telephone: This is a means of communication that links far and near distances or locations within seconds to pass information between one person and another. The landlines are provided by NITEL in Nigeria or mobile phones to the receiver. It is the fastest means of sending verbal messages to the recipients or receivers.
World Wide Web: This method of communication has turned the whole world into a village through the use of a website. One will just connect with the website and log in deliver the information within some seconds to any part of the world. This has turned the whole world into a global village as somebody in Nigeria can easily send messages through his computer to another person that has a computer as well as in the world.
Courier service: There are several communication agencies or bodies such as DHL that assist individuals and corporate organizations all over the world. They help in carrying bulky messages in letters and parcels; they are fast in delivery and known for the safety of the messages.
Radars: This is mostly used by armed forces for receiving information from the enemy. It is also to locate the position of the enemy’s aircraft in the air.
Importance of communication
- Communication saves time and it is stress-free.
- Communication helps in advertisement since there are different means of reaching out to the public about a new product to create awareness such as television, radio, magazine, etc.
- Communication gives room to the effectiveness and efficiency of management in the organization.
- The public is easily connected to the new development of what is happening in the market within a short time, e. g. government policies, price changes, and so on.
- Communication connects people of different races, and languages easily i. e. it promotes international unity.
- Communication improves our transportation system because they can get in touch with one another even in the air.
- Communication helps buyers and sellers negotiate amicably because of different means of communication.
- The use of televisions, newspapers, radios, the Internet, etc help in getting feedback from the reaction of the public on some issues such as irregularity of electricity, fuel scarcity, etc.
- Communication enables timely and accurate dissemination of messages among people and organizations.
- Communication creates awareness about the products.
- Communication reduces to the barest minimum, the risk associated with traveling.
- Communication provides jobs for the unemployed.
- Communication facilitates all types of transportation.
Services provided by communication agencies
Communication agencies are the people that provide communication services for the public as a whole. Some of them are government owned while some are privately owned by individuals. Examples are as follows:
- The post office
- Telephone service providers such as MTN, AIRTEL, GLO, ETISALAT, SMILE, etc.
- Internet service providers
- Courier service providers
- Radio station
- Daily papers
The post office
This is a public corporation that is financed and controlled fully by the government itself. They carried out different services such
- Mail delivery like express, ordinary, and registered mail
- Parcels: Parcel is also sent from one town or country to another after observation of some protocols by the post office.
- Telegraphic service: This is a communication that is transmitted or sent by electricity from one post office to another. It is a kind of wireless cable that is used in sending information from one post office to another. The message is printed and delivered to someone’s home or office.
- Private and bag services: Based on request and choice, individuals do have a bag into which their letters will be dispatched by the post office officials. They will just come at their convenient time to collect such letters. The subscribers usually pay a certain amount to the organization for the service enjoyed later.
- Post office box: This is a request made by an individual as to where the letters belonging to them will be kept in the post office. It makes it easy for them to come at their convenient time to collect such a letter and pay a little token for the service enjoyed later.
Telephone service
- This is a telecommunication device that allows two or more users to talk when they are far apart to be heard directly in a distinctive manner. Telephone service can be owned either by government agencies such as NITEL or by private bodies such as MTN, GLO, ETISALAT, AIRTEL, etc. In those days of NITEL in Nigeria, there used to be a:
- Public telephone booth: This is a telephone center where an individual goes to make calls with a little token paid before the service is rendered. Some of the different types of calls people made are as follows:
- Local calls: This is a type of call that is made by an individual within the same town or city e. g. people living within Lagos or Ibadan.
- Trunk calls: This type of call is made outside a city or town e. g. people who live in Lagos can call those who live in Ibadan.
- International calls: This type of call is made between one country to another. For example, an individual called the United Kingdom right from Nigeria.
- Telex service: This is used for the transmission of life events from other countries.
- The global system of Mobile communication (GSM): An individual makes use of a cell phone to receive and send information either orally or in a written form to anybody, anywhere in the world within seconds without wasting time inasmuch the network is available.
The Internet
This is a type of world wild of a computer system that has brought the whole world into a single village as far as sending and receiving information, marketing, advertisement, and so on is concerned. Services enjoyed through the use of Internet services are:
- Educational research like the search for admission vacancy
- Weather report
- Marketing such as buying and selling any items
- World news
- Entertainment
- Religion
- Sports
- Exchange of electronic mail
- Live conversation with another person or a large group of people in the chat room
- Participation in online discussions with another person or a group of people who use the Internet Relay chat (IRC)
- Reading complex documents
- Learning and practicing for an exam, eg. JAMB, etc.
- Advertisements in a variety of ways to promote sales
- Payment of bills
- The playing of different games, etc.
Courier services
These are private organizations or companies that are reliable and specialized in sending and delivering urgent letters, information, documents, or parcels from within and outside the country with high speed and security. Examples are as follows: FEX, EX, EMS International, UPS, TNT, ARANEX, etc. all of which operate under NIPOST.
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