The Gazette 1992

JULY/AUGUST 1992

GAZETTE

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EDI - Is There Life After Fax?

will usually be impractical to have a cable from a transmitting computer in Cork directly to a receiving computer in Galway, so for present purposes we will focus on the telephone link. The telephone system will only deal with signals of certain types. An ordinary telephone converts voice sounds into electronic signals, sends them down the line, and converts signals back into voice sounds. In much the same way, a device called a modem converts computer-type signals from the port into telephone-type signals and vice versa. The modem will usually deal with dialling and answering other computers in the same way that faxes do with other faxes. So far, the process is similar to fax transmission. But there are several important differences. Firstly, there is the question of speed. Modern faxes, given a clear line, can transmit single-space typed text at a rate of between 45 and 70 seconds for every A4 page. A direct EDI link on the same line could send the same page in 3 to 8 seconds. Interference on the line may cause the faxed copy to be smudged or incomplete, but the communications software and modem used by the EDI link will almost always make sure that each packet of data is compared by the two computers for errors, and re- deciphered, typed and marked up before it can be returned by fax to the sender and the process begun again. Using EDI, the document is loaded directly onto the receiving computer without having to be re- typed, and can be amended and printed off like any other document. The re-draft can then be returned by EDI in the same way it was received. One question which will occur to 239 send any that are not 'agreed'. Lastly, as many an impatient solicitor and overstretched secretary knows from experience, the faxed page may have to be read,

by Michael O ' Sullivan

The facsimile or fax machine has transformed communications between businesses and clients to an extent unseen since the telephone gained widespread use over 70 years ago. The Law Society recognised the benefits of fax transmission at an early stage, and your Technology Committee has gone to great lengths to promote its use in the profession. The benefits of fax transmission are well known but worth repeating. Documents (including diagrams) can be reproduced worldwide simply by dialling a telephone and pressing a transmit button. Drafts can be sent, reviewed, amended and returned in a matter of minutes or hours, documentary evidence can be adduced and decisions can be taken far more quickly than post or courier services might permit, and often for much less cost. As technology advances, features such as speed dialling, memory storage of documents, password protection and multiple transmissions have improved the facilities provided by faxes. But as every harried solicitor and secretary knows, faxes have distinct shortcomings. Poor transmissions result in smudged copies. Sheet feeders jam and develop minds of their own. Telephone numbers can be misdialled with results that are at best embarrassing. The speed of fax transmissions has not improved apace with other technologies, due in part to the need to serve the lowest common denominator. The nearly universal use of word processing has opened up the possibility of eliminating some if not all of these problems. This article considers Electronic Document Interchange (EDI), how it compares with fax transmission, and how it might be used in the profession.

Michael O'Sullivan documents and diagrams in files, EDI works on the basis that a computer file such as a word processing document can be reproduced at one or more 'remote' locations by connecting a transmitting computer - the 'local' computer - down a link such as a cable or telephone line to a remote computer. Once they have established clear communications, the two computers start a 'conversation' in which the local computer describes the file and its contents, and the remote reproduces it at the other end of the line. The result is that a replica of the document file is created on the remote system. That replica file can then be printed off or amended on the remote system like any other document. The precise means by which this is achieved involves several stages. Firstly, both computers must be capable of communicating. This involves having a device called a port (which is standard on most systems today) and communications software on each computer which instructs them on how to create the link and conduct the conversation. Secondly, the two computers must be linked through a cable or telephone line. It

Computers store information such as