P4- Describe the features and functions of information systems

Difference between data and information	The difference between data and information is that data is raw and mainly facts and figures whereas information is most parts of data but it’s actually useful. An example of data could be a list of numbers, this is not useful without any relevant information as we dont know what these numbers mean. An example of information could be Minutes or seconds next to the numbers which would be useful information as it’s telling indiviual time.
Effectively Collecting Information Businesses can collect information physcially through different methods
Physically	There are many ways companies can collect information in a physical format such as surveys, questionnaires and lists. For example a person could go around observing how many people use a certain service or object and write the results down in a survey. Physical Information is a good because it’s hard evidence for a researcher of a business and allows the company to physical information as it can also be photocopied and backed up in cabinets so you have multiple copies of the physical information. Matlin Insurance can use surveys to get information as long as they collect it effectively such as not wasting too much time on 1 method of collecting information. For example Matlin Insurance could do a questionnaire near a holiday resort because most people would travel to the resort via cars. So they could get some of their employees to stand outside the resort and collect information physically. The business can also collect physical information by doing lists and noting down customer information such as names, addresses and phone numbers and again they can be stored in a physical manner.
Paper forms	Paper forms are a good way to collect information in a paper format as it allows companies to scan and backup the information quickly. Plus when collecting paper based information more people might be willing to answer and complete it because you are physically asking them. Matlin Insurance can do paper surverys on there customers or the public. The best thing about paper forms is Matin Insurance can post them to there customers address through the mail, they could also hand of the surveys through groups or have them at the front of supermarkets so people can collect one and fill them out. A simillar method can be applied to questonaires however its better is a employee asks the questons so they can get a report that is not biased or false information. Of course the paper information can then be stored in cabinets and also scanned into computers.
Electronically	Businesses can also collect information electronically such as through websites which is a faster method of collecting information, for example companies can access other company’s databases and use the information for their advantage. This is electronic information as you are collecting it via computers and also storing it in computer systems. Matlin Insurance could have a barrier system in their workplace. This way the system would feedback information electronically to the people who monitor the company so they can find out stuff like who was late and by how much time. Matlin Insurance could also send surveys through emails to They could possibly send the surveys to their previous customers or other company’s customers as this would be electronic. There are websites dedicated for you to setup a survey easily with your own questions you can use and then you can get feedback from the people that have completed the survey. With this information they can store it electronically into a database and create graphs and charts. Matlin Insurance could also send the customers a black box which would feedback data electronically to the business and customers to see how they are using their cars. A black box is tracked and fitted into a car to measure how the driver is like how many miles you drive, acceleration and braking, time of day etc. From this data the company can offer lower insurance because there drivers are better which could mean less accidents so people do not have to use their cover money.
Effectively Processing Information Once a business has collected the information through the different methods the have to process it effectively so they can get the useful information and base decisions of it.
Sorting	Sorting information is a good way to extract and read important information easily and quickly without wasting to much time. There are two types of catogries a information system can sort information which is catagrozing (grouping items with simillar properties togethere) and Ordering (arranging items in sequencial order), both of these important as each other. Matlin Insurance would have to regulary do this when obtaining information from its customers such as names, addresses and numbers and maybe even other companies. They would have a automated system in place which puts the correct information in the correct database to avoid any confusion. For example the catogrise different car types and alphabetically order customers names from a-z so search results can be efficent. Furthermore this is an advantage for employees as it makes searching for information eaiser. Matlin Insurance could also use software such as Microsoft Excel to sort data into tables which could profit and loses figures, where the company is spending and earning. This software is designed to make information understandable and can sort large amounts of data of its features such as Sort and Filter, custom lists etc.
Calculations	Calculations can be preformed on data to find out important bits of the data, figure out overall values and even predict further results. Calculations can be simple addition and subtracting figures or complicated calculations made on data. Matlin Insurance will have to preform calculations on a daily basis such as working out how much profit the company has made overall for the month. First they would add togethere all the total sales, then minus anything the company spent on such as buying or investing in new technology, they would also minus the employes and managers wages, also minusing bills such as gas, water, electricty and finally minusing Tax. After all these calucations they can have a clear figure of how much they made. Of course the company can setup a automated information system to manage and do this when its needed. Taxes, income Matlin Insurance are a insurance company which would have to quote insurance to customers who are looking to apply with them. Customers would go onto there website and would normally fill out details such as Car, Mileage, drivers and passenagers etc. When the customer wants the quote the information will be sent to the companys sever which would then send more information back saying the quote as it calucated all the values. Further calculations that can be done to this such as how much the customer has to pay annual or monthly in installments, this would be normally be a division sum.
Effectively Retrieving Information A business has to collect the correct information and retrieve it fairly easily without any hassle.
Filters/Queries	Filters and Quries can be used and applied in most softwares. There are also Information filtering systems to remove redundant or wanted data, this system can be setup by the business so its automatic and can present information in a well manner for a human.   Filtering is important for businesses Like Matlin because it means they can get information at a faster rate, a big insurance company would hold alot of data about customers, finance and maybe even its competitors. So they would have to filter information however if the data is in Programs like Microsoft Access and Excel that have filtering features in place. Filtering data can save the business time and money. Matlin Insurance can use query requests for information they want from a database. There are many different types of query such as action query which you can put additional operations on the data such as update and delete it. For example if Matlin needed to update a specific customers details they can select a query to find that persons information to later update the information. Ofcourse this can save the company time as they would not have to manually search for the information.
Paper Files	Before computers and systems paper Information systems were around and generally they can vary in sizes but the more information there is, the bigger the system well be. These systems can be Cabinets which can store hundreds of documents and folders and can have organised alphabet letters and numbers so you can find information quickly. For Matlin insurance even though they probably have lots of computerised systems they should still have an alternative if they cannot access anything electronically they can always switch to Paper based information. Matlin insurance can have a protected room with lots of cabinets, they can be water and fire proof also. With this paper based storage they should only store the important files that will be useful to the company and won’t waste the valuable space they need. However precautions can be taken such as having lock and key for the cabinets. Matlin Insurance can also store information is paper backed journals with important notes. Each manager from different departments could have a journal each where they can record notes, date and times and contact information. This information can also be transferred afterwards.
Keywords	Keywords and keyword searchers are a good way to kind information that you need or is relevant to what you want. This can be implemented in most things such as databases, folders and files, search engines etc. The more keywords you put, the more specific your results will be. For example if you cant remember the name of a shareholder you can google the relevant keywords related to that shareholder. For Matlin insurance this will be very useful for departments such as Human Resources and Marketing. The marketing department could find information about other businesses simillar to theres by going a business search engine and entering keywords related to this. They could also find material related to Insurance Marketing through keyword searches. Human Resources might need to look through databases to find information about customers or other employees. Microsoft Access has an advanced search feature where you can enter keywords and the software will search the whole of the program to find relevant information.
Effectively Presenting Information With the information the business collects they have to make sure the information is presented in a well manner and easier to read for the user.
Graphs/Charts	Graphs and Charts are very powerful for businesses. For example some of the charts you can get column, bar, line and point and pie charts. Businesses can get Primary data such as figures, input them into a program such as Microsoft Excel and create a graph/ chart which will present the data in a suitable way for users to view. Matlin Insurance will use this often. For example if the manager of the sales and marketing had to do a presentation on this weeks preformance. The manager could add graphs which would add a visual element to the presentation and show the key facts such as what is selling the most by the units. Matlin Insurance could use pie charts when doing market research such as they could compare what kind of insurance policies are popular amongst the public, this could be useful information for the company
Spreadsheet	Spreadsheets are good for organising, analysing and storing data. Spreadsheets are also a good way to find stored values and observe the effects for future prediciations and use the what-if analysis. A software that is commonly used for this is Microsoft excel and it can normally output lots of different data and present it in a a well manner. Matlin Insurance can use the data from the different spreadsheets that are from other insurance companies and model and manipulate that data to maybe creat graphical visualizations. Matlin could also learn from this information to gain advantage over the competitors. Spreedsheets can also help matlin with better decision making, for example they can see another insurance companies pricing strategy when it comes to events like christmas or black Friday. This also links back with Graphs and charts where the business could get the the data from the spreadsheet and transform it into a bar chart to see the overall preformance of the business, with this the business could estimate sales projects and calculate different effects.
Reports	Most businesses will use reports to present information because it can cover a wide variety of topics and objectives. Some of the reports a business can do can be annual reports, monthly sales reports, progress reports and even reports requested by the government. Reports can help businesses as they can cover lots of different facts as long as they are written for the write audience or whoever the user is reading it. Reports require a lot of research, interviews and opinons however they can be good to base decisions of. Matlin Insurance would want reports every week from every departments manager so they can keep track of the businesses preformance. For example if the marketing manager created a new report writing about a new marketing technique they wanted to tried but it didn’t result into a sale increase this would be included into the report, the business can then make valid decisions of this and save money because its all facts. Matlin Insurance can also reporting tools that can montior important business activities and put them in the report automatically, even though these softwares might cost the business a lot of money it will be more conivent as it will be able to analysis every move of the businesses decisions and show the outcome it resulted.