A Survey of the MIS and Telecommunications Activities of Major Business Firms

This paper presents results obtained from a survey of major business firms in a la rge metropolitan area done as part of a telecommunications systems research project. The goal of this study involved determining the telecommunication technologies and services currently used by business firms. The results show that firms are using intelligent terminals, satellites, microwave, local area networks, etc., and they are using these technologies for electronic mail, decision support system activities, and limited use of video teleconferencing. Information resource management in most of these firms is centralized. Hands-on use of terminals by managers and professional does not appear as widespread as commonly publicized to date.