Computer communications:Electronic data interchange
Electronic data interchange
Increasingly, computers of different organizations are being linked directly over the telephone line, so that ordering and invoicing can be done entirely electronically rather than by sending paper documents through the post. The technology that enables this is called electronic data interchange (EDI). The significance of this for business and manufacturing is described in Chapter 10.
EDI requires the provision of what's called value-added data network services (VADS). These are services which are added to the basic telecommunications network, and include:
• Speed conversion, enabling terminals with differing baud rates to communicate.
• Protocol conversion, enabling a terminal to communicate with other incompatible terminals.
• Connection and message-routing facilities.
• Store-and-forward, allowing messages to be stored for forwarding later.
• Gateways to other databases and services.
At the time of writing, there are some 5,000 EDI users in Europe out of a total potential market of around six million companies, but it is anticipated that EDI usage will grow rapidly during the 1990s.
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