Can you outline the limitations of using videotex for marketing commercial, industrial and residential property?
In recent years there have been several dramatic changes in the field of telecommunications. The advances that have occurred have stemmed from improvements in computer and telex hardware, which have become cheaper and more reliable. Videotex forms a good example of the application of these technological improvements.
Videotex (or videotext) is a generic term applicable to a number of information systems. The common characteristics of all videotex systems, several of which are mentioned below, is that they can make information available to a very large number of people based upon one or more data bases.
(a) Teletext is essentially an extension of the domestic television service, that is to say the pages of information — in addition to the usual programmes — are transmitted by the television station and received by all the television sets tuned to the channel (see diagram for details). In order to make use of this information a key pad and adaptor are required, the purpose of which is to select and store the required page.
Teletext is a “read-only system”, in that there is no data transmitted by the user to the computer, and therefore no way of altering or affecting the information transmitted.
This makes it limited in application, and a further limitation is that it only has the ability to transmit a few hundred pages of information owing to the limitation of the television channel capacities.
It must be appreciated that the main purpose of Teletext is to provide information of a general nature to a large number of people. As to its property use, such a system could be used to provide basic details of property to a wide audience and it could accordingly be particularly useful for residential property.
(b) Viewdata uses telephone lines as the communication medium between the computer and the user. The computer output is displayed on either an adapted television set or a VDU, both of which have to be equipped with a communications adaptor and a numeric key pad or full keyboard.
The user obtains his requirements “interactively” and not merely by selecting listed items or entering a page number. This results in a lower response-time, which is a problem with Teletext. With publicly available viewdata systems such as Prestel, each page received is charged for (although some are free). The payment is passed on to the system owner, which in the case of Prestel is British Telecom. The user also has to pay for the telephone call: in its early days this was a problem for the system because the main frame was based in London, but now the network of computers is countrywide, so that only a local call is necessary.
Prestel can also be used by what are known as “closed user groups”, ie organisations wanting their data to be confidential and available only to the members of the group. This could be a medium used to exchange property information of a confidential nature. Such a system is effectively the same as a private computer with a very large number of terminals, and could be used by surveyors for the marketing of property.
It is possible for anyone to become an information provider on the Prestel system for a fee of £4,000 and thereafter £4 for each frame used (each frame has 24 lines, and each line can contain 40 characters). An example of the property application is RICS/EG Network, originally established in 1977, which produced an extensive property listing service, with properties listed according to type, location and size with the telephone number of the agent provided in each case.
(c) Viewdata Electronic Mail. Viewdata systems have a much larger data base than Teletext systems and are capable of providing large amounts of information, both public and private. This information is stored in a network of computers, each serving its own local users, and not necessarily others.
Another facility is “Gateway”, which entails the interfacing of conventional computer data bases with a viewdata system, which in effect produces a computer with an unlimited number of terminals.
It is possible to send electronic mail via viewdata to another individual, if the sender knows the recipient’s address number. Security can be added to the system by the use of passwords which can protect confidential information. It is also possible to send information to more than one person, and is therefore ideal for marketing property of all types, but with particular emphasis on industrial and commercial buildings.
Another important aspect could be the use of “response frames”, or pages into which a user can insert data. This means the agent could display property data and the user could indicate his requirements on the response frame, so initiating a sale.
