1. Identify the actual named client that you would create the system for and provide sufficient background information about their business and their “customers”.
The client is Greenwich University which is an educational institution located in the South East of London. It provides a range of courses for students study and also has a large number of services and facilities such as learning resource centres, sports recreation, computer labs and many more. Students attend lectures and workshops to collect information via the lecturers to move up levels throughout the duration of the course. As well as the learning side of the institution there are numerous events that occur such as the “freshers week” for new students starting that year as well as several job fairs where companies look for students who are looking to start their placements. As the institution is quite large it is important that the students are very well informed about any announcements regarding their chosen courses. As well as any events occurring that relate to the students' course.
Business Model -
Example:
Student Union -
Can use to inform students of future events
Lecturers -
Can inform students of deadlines, and other helpful information
Events Coordinators -
Can inform students of upcoming events
LRC Staff -
LRC staff can inform students of overdue books
Other Staff -
Other staff can use this for notifying students of collecting coursework and anything else related to the institution.
Mobile business model (Wireless)
• Not enough space for banners
• Can be used anywhere in the world
• Less use of keyboards
• The costs may rise considerably due to the rise in cost of SMS and clients
• The service maybe favourable to the market but the cost of implementing service could exceed the revenue.
Mobile business model (Wired)
• Offer premium services useful through the mobile
• Common place for applicable links where users share sponsored links
• Promotes selection of relevant links on the web to be stored directed on mobile device.
Characteristics of the new system at Greenwich University
• Communication - The communication between students and university staff will be greatly improved.
• Context - Use of the service must be in a correct manner
• Control - To help the user control access so that only they can use/access their personalised data.
• Consent - Permission of the students will be needed before using their data for personalisation.
2. Describe clearly the main functions of your proposed system ( restrict this to no more that 3 main features)
As the institution sets up many events and services to students, it is very important that students are kept very informed and up to date. The proposed system will target students who currently do not receive updated information frequently enough and often find that they are late with current updates. The system will have more frequent and faster updates via SMS and MMS messages. The applcation will be integrated within the present system using email on blackboard and via use of the personal mobile phone numbers of the students which are currently stored on the university database. Users will also be able to send SMS messages to students via the University's current exchange server. (Microsoft Outlook).
SMS + MMS
The SMS and MMS features will be very beneficial to users as it will alert students of course announcements such as change of deadline, cancellation of lesson/class etc. All this information can be sent via SMS/MMS
• Event Organisers can use MMS to inform “freshers” of current activities.
• LRC staff will be able to inform students with reminder texts of overdue books
3.Describe the benefits of the proposed system (to the organisation or to its users/customers)
Greenwich University Students
• Lecturers will be able to notify students as quickly as possible
• Better communication between students and lecturers
• Can minimise costs as less paper is used due to less leaflets created
• More efficient way of monitoring progress of students.
• Early identification of implication issues
• Service will be able to promote special events and activities directly to students • Students may not have access to the internet at home so the proposed system will be very beneficial to those students.
• Students will get information direct to their mobile phone which will ensure the student is updated in the quickest way possible.
The current issue at hand when creating a new system is acceptance. It is important to determine how, why and at what rate this new system will be accepted by staff and students.
The following is the “Adopter Category” which will help to determine what kind of users the proposed system can expect.
• Innovators - these are the risk takers, and youngest in age; due to the high amount of young students, there are bound to be a great deal of risk takers.
• Early Adaptors - This will apply to the students with a high level of intellect.
• Early Majority - Unsociable students who will accept the system after a period of time
• Late Majority - This will a apply to the students who wait for a number of people to accept before making their decision to accept.
• Laggards - This will apply to mature students who tend to look more at traditional values and are not comfortable with change.
The importance of Mobile Internet
The mobile internet is becoming more and more popular due to its great convenience of use, cost efficiency and great east of integration with other networks and network components. Because of this increased popularity of the technology, most computers and mobile phones come with wireless technology as standard. Via the mobile/wireless internet there is a great deal of information at hand such as information about the institution itself I.e opening hours of LRC, parking restriction policies etc. As well as there would also be information available externally I.e. whether, news, sport etc. These services will be readily available to use in case external links are sent via these SMS and MMS messages such as promotions for cheap books.
Wireless Network Providers will offer the following to their consumers in most instances:
Mobility -
Wireless hotspots now seem to be appearing more and more in public areas which is making it possible for users to have greater accessibility to the internet. Most restaurants and coffee shops are now offering their customers a wireless connection at little or no cost.
Cost -
Most providers will offer the service at a cheap rate which is also a vital factor to considerer in term of the increased popularity
Convenience -
The wireless characteristics of the mobile internet permits users to access resources from a convenient position from within the network range capacity.
Review similar projects within the same industry and the use of mobile technologies in your chosen field.
The use of SMS and MMS has proved to be a very important innovation for making lives easier for certain sets of people in various areas of the business. These have ranged from relatively small to quite large organisations.
Research has been carried out to find other institutions that implement the same or a very similar technology to the one proposed.
• The University of Berkshire
Currently the University have implemented the M- Science system for a different purpose. The use of SMS/MMS has helped to increase the university's' standard to a great level due to the improvement of the students' records. Current the implementation of the technology has enabled students to receive a text message notifying them of current services available online and also to remind them of any appointments booked. Currently the institution are using the internet to send the messages to students phones.
• Philadelphia University
This institution was one of the first to use a Mobile phone server bases as a tool communication between students and lecturers. The problem prior to implementation of this system was that there seemed to be a great volume of data loss of records of the students absence frequencies. The system implemented tracks the absence of students via sms which is then recorded on the main database.
Select technologies to recommend to your client and justify your answers.
