Fragments of your communication: Email,vmail, and fax |
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| Authors: | M Lynne Markus Tora K Bikson Maha El‐Shinnawy Louise L Soe |
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| Institution: | 1. Information Science , The Claremont Graduate School , Claremont, CA, 91711–6190;2. The RAND Corporation , Santa Monica, CA, 90406–2138;3. Anderson Graduate School of Management , UCLA , Los Angeles, CA, 90024–1481 |
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| Abstract: | Abstract How are new media, such as electronic mail, voice mail, and fax, used when people have access to several of them simultaneously? This paper reports findings from a field study of media use in four sizable subunits within two large organizations where most employees had access to email, vmail, and fax. Respondents tended to use multiple electronic media rather than relying on one. However, they also showed a tendency to prefer one medium for asynchronous communication and to use the others for occasional, specialized purposes. Further, there were considerable differences across subunits in typical media use patterns. Although respondents expressed strong desires for multimedia integration, this study suggests that technological integration may not necessarily result in seamless, collaborative work. |
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| Keywords: | Collaborative work diffusion of innovations electronic mail electronic media facsimile implementation information technology multimedia integration technology transfer voice mail |
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