Email: Its decision support systems inroads – An update

Email is compared to four communication alternatives: telephone, face-to-face, facsimile, and letter. The survey and analysis are follow-ups to the work of Plaisent and Bernard. The results are that email is ranked higher on all five of the attributes analyzed: efficiency, convenience, preference, most-used, and importance. In addition, it appears that email is increasingly taking on the role of DSS, being used in problem-solving, and continues to constitute about half of the activity regarding the exchange of information.