We all see the cell phone plan deals and minutes offered in advertisements. Whether it may be television, newspaper, magazines, or radio we all by now have seen the minutes offered with family plans and so forth.

The most popular of plans available at this current time is the 1,000 minute cellular plan. 1,000 minutes may seem like a lot and almost endless for your wireless calling consumption but in reality this may be far from a worry free calling plan.

A very important part of the decision process should be based on how many people are going to be using the calling plan. More importantly, who is going to be using your calling minutes. Are the users teenagers? How many of your children will be using the plan? Do you or your spouse frequently make calls? How long is the duration of most of these cell phone calls?

A somewhat simple way to calculate how many minutes you are going to need or may be lacking is to basically make some rough estimates of all possible user's monthly usage by rounding off into hours. Yes, hours not minutes.

In an Example:

Bob (Husband) 4 Hours

Sally (Wife) 3 Hours

Sue (17 years old) 5 Hours

Joe (15 years old) 4 Hours

FAMILY TOTAL: 16 Hours

Okay, so now you have put together the accumulated usage estimate. Simply dissect these hours into minutes. To do this is quite simple. All you have to do is multiply the hours by 60:

16 x 60 Minutes = 960 Minutes

The end result will be the amount of minutes you expect to spend on your cell phone plan each month. So with this family using 16 hours a month we have come up with 960 minutes.

In this scenario the family is just right for a 1,000 minute plan and that is lucky being you can expect to pay as much as .30 cents per minute after you go over your amount. In any case you should always use some math and fair estimates of how much cellular calling you really will be making.

In all cases the easiest way to pick a plan, especially for a single cell phone plan is to divide any plan by 60. Dividing by 60 you are dividing the minutes giving you an answer that equals in hours giving you a more realistic look at how much you will be able to call.

Grateful are many cell phone users because of the creation of the polyphonic ring tones.

The said type of ring tone is the middle innovation between the monophonic and full music tones. This has developed to be much loved by a lot of people because aside from producing a pleasant sound to the ears there are also a wide variety to choose from.

Going back to its brief history, which was just recently introduced in the market. A group of inventors in Japan was able to create the polyphonic ring tone in the year 2000. From then, they found a great response in the market because of the many mobile phone owners that subscribed to this great innovation..

This probably served as the major reason for inventing more innovative tones which is now the full music tones. Though, there is indeed a big difference between the two but some still prefer the polytones.

Polyphonic ring tones make use of multiple tones that are played simultaneously with the instrumental sounds created by guitars, drums, violins, pianos, cymbals and more. This creates a harmonious sound that you will never hear from a monotone.

When you deal with the difference between the monophonic tone and the polyphonic tone, there is a great disparity. Take this as an instance as comparing an individual playing a flute against a whole orchestra. Can you imagine the difference?

Remember that the monophonic ring tone that you have had before are emulating a simple beep sound. Sometimes, you won’t even recognize the sound at once. On the other hand, the polyphonic tone is more sophisticated because of its capability in producing real sound from the combination of several musical instruments.

Polyphonic ring tone also creates a different impact on the mobile user. He is alerted instantly about an incoming call or message because of the duration and mode of the polyphonic ring tone. In other words, it is a more effective alert for the phone user than the old beeping sound that you had before.

These are being compiled in the form of Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This is also referred to as MIDI. Many manufacturers already are continuously producing the polyphonic ring tone from the most famous pop music available today in the airwaves. Most of the downloadable tones are made available for free. Websites in the Net sometimes use it as a tool for advertisement.

Improving the MIDI file is a great concern for cell phone manufacturers when they start to produce polyphonic ring tones. Oftentimes, they will tend to encounter an unavoidable scenario due to the uniform tone that they produce.

Due to the said problem, they began to utilize the Scalable Polyphony MIDI in the year 2002. This will aid the producer to create a single version of the song so that the mobile user can likewise support multi-note tones that will range from four to 24 notes.

One of the most significant developments for the invention of polyphonic ring tone is the Polyphonic Wizard. It serves a great role for all mobile phone users. This gives them the opportunity to add new polyphonic tones in the cell phones even without the connectivity such as the Short Message Services or the SMS. In addition, pictures can also be added with Ring tone Wizard. Therefore, the Wizard is not only exclusive for polyphonic ring tones alone but also for the perfect moments of your pictures.

Communication is the backbone of any operational transformation. The classic communication challenge--the right message to the right audience at the right time--is even more important with change. To build buy-in, a communication program should begin as soon as investigation of a potential change is initiated, and should continue until a steady state of operations is resumed.

This column covers content, context and timing--the elements of communication that are essential for success.

Researchers who have studied long-term happily married couples have found one constant factor in determining the success of the relationship: communication. Whether times are smooth or turbulent, it is this constant thread of communication that holds a relationship together. Operational change is likely to have a significant impact on stakeholders at all levels of an extended organization. Therefore, maintaining effective working relationships through communication is an essential ingredient throughout the process.

Operational transformation is usually triggered by a business mandate expressed in the form of a corporate vision. By coupling a clear business mandate with a fact-based assessment [see the first column in this series in the January/February 2005 Frontline Solutions, pg 14], companies can both characterize the opportunity and confirm that the initiative will deliver value to the business.

Facts Remove Emotion

A fact-based assessment creates a value proposition by using such tools and processes as benchmarking, gap assessment, and the Supply-Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR) of the Supply Chain Council. Creating a fact-based assessment provides the first element of communication--the content. Facts remove the emotional element from the communication. A strong vision and a solid value proposition are essential elements for building credible content for communication.

Once a change is approved for implementation, a communication strategy and plan must be developed. A communication plan has three elements: content, context, and timing. It answers the questions of who, what, when and how.

Content and Context

The content (what) element is made up of the vision, value proposition, concrete plans for change, the action required from the audience, and status updates. The context (who and how) element factors the stages of change, the various stakeholders, the impact of change on each stakeholder, and the various communication vehicles. The timing (when) element reflects the changing communication needs before, during, and after implementation. These elements are interwoven and need to be developed in tandem.

The motivation levels and communication needs of the stakeholders vary at different stages of the transformation process. A performance chain framework describes the stages through which an individual or group rationalize change. The framework illustrates the appropriate timing of communications.

Active Campaigners for Change

The simple goal of communication is to move all the stakeholders in the performance chain from a state of awareness to a state of performance, where they become active campaigners for the change as opposed to passive campaigners (as described in the knowledge stage.) The critical stage is inquisition, where the link can break either because the individual or group does not support the change or becomes indifferent to it.

All stakeholders progress through the stages in the performance chain at different speeds.

In a typical scenario, change is implemented by a core team responsible for developing and implementing a communication plan. The core team has representatives from each of the impacted areas, including manufacturing, engineering, human resources, and procurement, and is assisted by extended team members. The end-users, often the ones most affected by the change, are likely to be the larger population, as well as the one with the least amount of information about the change. Core team members are likely to become active campaigners for the change much faster than extended team members. The core team receives communication every day as an incentive to complete the change, while the extended team members receive communication less frequently. So at any point during the change, end users will be further to the left of the chain than the extended or core team members.

In addition, the level of communication efforts required increases as stakeholder groups progress through the chain.

Communication Effort by Stage

You can design an effective communication plan once you understand the context and timing of communication.

The first step in communicating change is identifying key stakeholders. Supply chain transformation involves external players in addition to internal ones. Focused and partitioned communication has to be developed for major stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, and analysts, and should begin with the strategy for transformation. Communication with suppliers has traditionally been adversarial in nature as suppliers are just "told" what is required. However, given the benefits of long-term supplier relationships, individuals or groups within the supplier's organization must also be identified and handled separately, rather aggregating all suppliers as one stakeholder.

Let's face it. In today's complex, fast-paced organizations, communication is just too important to be left in the hands of communication professionals. Communication is not a function anymore--if it ever were. It's the central nervous system of the organization, and the ones that perform best are those that successfully link everyone into a real-time, interactive network for sharing information and knowledge.

Take a look at what is happening with knowledge management--one of the hottest communication crazes to grip the corporate world in recent years. As with many fads from the past, the premise underlying knowledge management is highly relevant. We do need more robust systems to ensure the optimal sharing of data, information and knowledge in organizations. Problem is, the message is getting lost in the spectacle and "programitis" that often accompany the typical management movement. As a result, the imperative for better knowledge sharing is not being translated into basic operating systems that can get woven into the elemental fabric of most organizations. In the end, knowledge management will surely wind up as bleached bones in the desert of management movements that have come and crumbled along the way.

What does it take to make the switch from program to process, from spectacle to system? In the case of communication, it mainly takes a reality check. Does it work in real time--or does the "news" arrive two months after everyone already knows the "real" facts? Does it convey real information and knowledge--or is it some contrived and often meaningless version of the truth that has been sanitized or glamorized through the word-smithing of professional communicators at the behest of senior management?

If we want well-informed people, working in high-trust relationships in our organizations, we need to stare that need for reality in the face and determine what it means for organizational communication. For starters, it means that those responsible for internal communication need to make a basic shift away from being media and message mongers toward serving as facilitators of the communication process for which everyone is responsible and in which everyone plays a vital role.

What does that look like in the real world? First and foremost, we have to stop thinking about communication as media and messages and start thinking about it as systems and relationships. What does a real communication system look like? Among the essential characteristics:

* Interaction

* Availability and access

* Speed

* Relevance

* Inclusion

Here are some important considerations about each of those characteristics.

INTERACTION

We have all heard people grumble that the communication in their organization isn't a two-way street--it's all top down. It is easy to sympathize with the intent of their complaint, but it misses a very basic point. If it's one-way, it's not real communication. It is nothing more than message distribution. Even some communication professionals miss that pertinent fact. Those communicators tend to define their roles by the messages they put out and the media they use rather than the relationships that communication must facilitate.

If you want to know whether or not someone is a message-maker or a communicator, here is a quick tip-off. In his speaking or in his writing, does he follow the verb "communicate" with the preposition "to?" If so, it's a good sign that he just doesn't get it. People like that see their role as information providers, which is only half the process.

Real communicators believe that the only prepositions that should follow the word "communicate" are "with" and "about." Real communication is an interactive process, not a directive or distributive one. If the goal is "common" understanding, messages must flow back and forth in a continuous exchange, not the straight line that you get from traditional communication tools such as newsletters, magazines and management memos.

AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS

Many people use the words "availability" and "access" interchangeably. Both are essential in a useful communication system, but they are substantially different. Availability is a matter of policy, and if you want to foster trust, the key to that policy has to be "no secrets." Access is a matter of process, and if you want to foster trust, the key to that process has to be no barriers." An organization may have a policy that all information is open and available. But that does people little good if they can't get access to it--either because it's buried somewhere that is impossible to reach, or they can't process it because they have no context for the information, can't understand it or are drowning from information overload.

SPEED

We've all heard the old saying "time is money." Speed counts big time when it comes to a quality communication system. The best time for information is "real time," not weeks, days or even hours later. As soon as the information is in a form that is credible and able to be processed, it should be available and accessible to everyone. That doesn't mean you share all information with everyone all at once. That's just dumping, not communication. But whether you're talking about getting people information that will improve their knowledge and performance as quickly as possible or you are simply trying to outrun the grapevine, the faster the communication, the better.

It had never been done before: a major assault launched from 658 miles away, at sea. Task Force 58 - initially composed of 2,000 Marines of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit - landed in southern Afghanistan in November 2001 and established a base camp 55 miles south of the Taliban stronghold in Kandahar. The Operation Enduring Freedom ground campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban was under way, with the new base - Camp Rhino - as its initial hub.

But the assault created significant challenges in communications because of the great distance between Task Force 58 and the sea base that launched it - an amphibious ready group in the North Arabian Sea. Although the task force had tactical satellite communications with its base, bandwidth was limited and commanders at Camp Rhino initially had to rely on aircraft such as U.S. Navy P-3C patrol planes and U.S. Marine Corps KC-130 transports to relay communications to commanders on ships. Eventually satellite dishes were brought in for wideband communications.

The mountainous terrain proved even more challenging. Backpack satellite communications were used by ground troops, but they had to restrict the number of radios in use due to bandwidth limitations.

To resolve these problems, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., developed a new portable, over-the-horizon communications system that is being tested by Marine units in Iraq to assess its link between command centers, fire-support commanders and tactical units ashore during operations.

The Expeditionary Tactical Communications System (ETCS) is a voice and data link between tactical units -down to the company, platoon or squad level - and their combat commanders. It is envisioned as a solution for rapidly advancing units that outstretch their ability to communicate with commanders.

The new technology may lead to the development of a lightweight, flexible network that will provide reliable communications from a sea base to the expeditionary units farthest inland.

The ETCS is a 1.5-pound handset integrated with a Global Positioning System receiver and a group radio controller to manage voice and data traffic. Built by General Dynamics C4 Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz., the handset can be connected with data terminals, Hammerhead Tablet ruggedized laptop personal computers and handheld Commander's Digital Assistant, a militarized personal data assistant.

The vest-mounted handset - which can operate for 12 hours on the charge of a 1.5-pound battery - is capable of encryption and can conduct voice and data transmission and reception simultaneously over a single channel. The handset also can be connected to helmets, mounted on vehicles and linked to unmanned remote sensors.

The ETCS handset communicates via the constellation of Iridium mobile satellites, enabling units to connect over mountainous terrain or with a sea base far offshore. Satellite time on the Iridium constellation is free to operational units, said Michael Fallon, director for Marine Corps Programs at General Dynamics C4 Systems.

The Global Positioning System provides location information for all ETCS users in the net, allowing commanders to view where their units are on display screens.

The ETCS is designed to supplement current tactical satellite communications capability.

The developmental ETCS units were to have been evaluated this year during a planned experiment - Sea Viking 2004 - on the West Coast, a live experiment without using fixed radio relays, to evaluate the system in a beyond line-of-sight, "on the move" exercise from a sea base to an objective, said Vince Goulding, director of Sea Viking live experimentation at the Warfighting Lab. The deployment of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (T MEF) to Iraq in March forced the cancellation of the experiment, but the I MEF requested the ETCS be sent to Iraq for end-user evaluation.

Ten ETCSs and three Hammerhead personal computers were deployed to Iraq in August for field-level user evaluation with the I MEF, according to Lt. Col. Pincher Martin, ETCS project officer and a Royal Marine exchange officer with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.

A Warfighting Lab officer deployed to Iraq, Capt. Matt Simmons, is visiting numerous units and introducing the ETCS "all over the area" for testing and training, Goulding said. He noted that one specific ETCS test scenario was its use in command and control of vehicle convoy operations.

"We hope to deploy another 400 production systems in November to allow full MEF-wide concept evaluation," he said.

General Dynamics was awarded $100,000 for an initial task order study of ETCS, and has been provided approximately $3 million so far to develop the system, Fallon said. The ETCS has been installed in a vehicle-mounted version of the Unit Operations Center (OUC) - called the Combat Operations Center - for an evaluation by the Warfighting Lab.

Also built by General Dynamics C4 Systems, the UOC - designed to be set up on land in less than 40 minutes - is a scalable, portable commandand-control center that is established as a sea-based maneuver unit goes ashore. Shipped by Humvee-towed trailers that are air-transportable, the UOC is set up as an air-conditioned tent complex with laptop computer workstations, large-screen data displays and communications gear. The UOC is designed to provide a commander with full battlefield awareness and access to multiple-source information from command networks.

A report describes the Orbiter Interface Unit (OIU) and the Early Communication System (ECOMM), which are systems of electronic hardware and software that serve as the primary communication links for the International Space Station (ISS). When a space shuttle is at or near the ISS during assembly and resupply missions, the OIU sends groundor crew-initiated commands from the space shuttle to the ISS and relays telemetry from the ISS to the space shuttle's payload data systems. The shuttle then forwards the telemetry to the ground. In the absence of a space shuttle, the ECOMM handles communications between the ISS and Johnson Space Center via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Innovative features described in the report include (1) a "smart" data-buffering algorithm that helps to preserve synchronization (and thereby minimize loss) of telemetric data between the OIU and the space-shuttle payload data interleaver; (2) an ECOMM antenna-autotracking algorithm that selects whichever of two phased-array antennas gives the best TDRSS signal and electronically steers that antenna to track the TDRSS source; and (3) an ECOMM mdiation-latchup controller, which detects an abrupt increase in current indicative of radiation-induced latchup and temporarily turns off power to clear the latchup, restoring power after the charge dissipates.

SchoolFusion, an Internet tool from Centrifuge Solutions LLC, allows parents and students to view assignments, announcements, tests, and the class calendar through a private calendar that automatically compiles all of a student's assignments and activities.

Designed for the K-12 environment, SchoolFusion integrates with a school's Web site and uses a customized security system to ensure that only parents or guardians have access to their children's information.

Teachers can manage their classrooms by publishing assignments, class links, handouts, and test dates for each of their classes. Teachers can also e-mail an entire class; post lessons and homework assignments; manage and calculate grades; and create tinned, automatically scored quizzes. Club and sports schedules and other events can also be added and administrators can use automatic notifications to promote school events.