AN OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEM

This paper gives an overview of an office automation system, the WEB, used by British Telecom's Research and Technology Department. Key features of the system include the development of procedures or electronic rules for collecting details of the allocation of staff time, and a purchasing system. The implementation of these procedures has brought significant benefits to the business and has caused the WEB to become established as part of the organisation's culture. Also described is the preferred terminal configuration which is based on a number of specially developed applications for Microsoft Windows. This includes a personal computer-based telephone directory and an iconised user interface which allows mail to be sent and received from the personal computer without the user having to log on to the Central System. Two accompanying papers [10, 11] in this issue describe in more detail the development of the electronic procedures used on the WEB and the development of the preferred terminal configuration.