Communication Software

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What Does Communication Software Mean?

Communication software is an application or program designed to pass information from one system to another. Such software provides remote access to systems and transmits files in a multitude of formats between computers.Communication software forms a part of communication systems with software components classified according to functions within the Open Systems Interconnection Model (OSI Model). The best defined examples of communication software are file transfer protocol (FTP), messaging software and email.

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Techopedia Explains Communication Software

The concept of emailing can be traced back to the early 1960s as a way of communication for multiple users of time sharing mainframe computers. In 1970, text chat functionality followed emailing and appeared on bulletin board systems and multiuser computer systems. In the 1980s, the terminal emulator, a piece of software to log into mainframes and access email, was introduced. The first decentralized chat system was the Bitnet Relay of 1985. Minitel was yet another well-known chat system introduced at the same time. The CU-SeeMe chat system was the first equipped with a video camera.

Instant messaging, with buddy list and idea an online presence, was introduced in 1996. More recently Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is on the short list of popular communication software. VoIP allow users to make phone calls through the Internet at a convenient cost.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.