Information Systems & Hardware Concepts

Accuracy of data input is important. There are many aspects to consider when deciding which method is the best for data input and output (I/O). Users communicate with computers in an information system through input and output devices. The user enters input data into the system through input devices and receives output information through output devices. It is extremely important for businesses today to select the right input and output hardware for its information system. Some common areas of concern for input and output devices in businesses today are printed questionnaires, telephone surveys, bank checks, retail tags, and long documents.

Printed questionnaires are frequently used in all businesses today. The best method of data input would be the keyboard. There needs to be an end user that is has the tools to compile the questions for the questionnaire, and type up the documents. The keyboard would not only be the best choice, but the most logical choice as well. In today's day and age, we do not type many documents on a typewriter anymore. We use our computers and word processing programs to type documents. A computer is useless without some form of a keyboard; therefore, it is the most logical choice for an input device. With this in mind, the best output device would be any printer for printed questionnaires. Preferably, a multi-function laser printer that has a fast print rate. The input and output device that a business selects for printed questionnaires in really limited since we do not use typewriters very often anymore.

Telephony surveys are also a very common business decision that many companies are faced with these days. The best method for an input device for these types of situations would be a voice activated input devices. These devices could be programmed to interact with the computers databases to automatically recognize survey responses when spoken into the telephone. This would alleviate the need for personnel to manually input the data, and reduce the number of costs that a company may spend to run a survey. The best output device is a computer database that records the information from the surveys. Computer automated, voice activated input devices would allow for quick diagnostic and analytical data to be processed.

Bank checks also need a means of secure input and output. The best input for bank checks would be MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) a magnetic scanning input device. Due to the nature of the volume of checks that a bank may process on a daily basis, they need a system that can read checks fast. This system is able to read the numbers at the bottom of the checks and automatically adjust the proper accounts. The best output device is an electronic imaging system that will read the checks into a computer based