Monitoring Employees on Networks

How does e-mail benefit an organization? Why might an organization want to limit how an employee uses e-mail during work hours? What is an email's path once it leaves an organization?

E-mail is a very beneficial tool available to be utilized by organizations. It allows messages to be exchanged between computers to single or multiple recipients, as well as sharing of important documents privately such as text files in multiple formats including .pdf and .doc files, image files including .jpg and .gif, and other files important for management and communication within a business. E-mail usage is beneficial in cutting costs within an organization and the ability to communicate almost instantly in a wide variety of formats. While there are many benefits to having e-mail within a company, whether it be internal e-mail or through the use of the internet, it is important that the organization monitor activity information in e-mail to ensure a productive and secured work environment. An e-mail leaves the users client computer and travels through the internet and through the mail server where it is sorted through the application server and reassembled for the user on the other end.

What is the effect of instant messaging on organization networks? What are benefits and drawbacks of using instant messaging in an organization?

Instant messaging creates private chat channels that an organization can utilize. This allows for instant communication between employers and employees and the availability to see who is online at any given time for communication. While it is very convenient, instant messaging can also pose security problems and many companies opt to use private instant messaging systems with built in security to decrease these risks as well as apply limitations as to what type of information is sent and received.

What are benefits and drawbacks of Web page and search engine use in an organization?

There are many benefits of webpage and search engine use for an organization. One main benefit is the ability to have real time information available to customers through database integration with said website. A draw back is the possibility of negative feedback being linked to the site if a customer is not happy with the care that they receive. Through the use of links and hypertext a company can also be found quickly through search engines such as google, because the more links on a page and to a page the higher ranked they are when others are searching for useful information in a related field.

Should managers monitor employee e-mail and Internet uses? Why or why not?

While some may agree that monitoring employee email and internet uses is unethical I can understand why an employer may deem doing so necessary. I