The first thing Ralph Del Monico does when he gets to the office is check his e-mail.
That’s because for the president and chief executive officer of Mail Processing Concepts in East Providence, e-mail and other Internet services have become the lifeblood that keeps his company going.
"It’s part of everyday life," he said. "Everything we do, we do electronically. We have internal and external e-mail so people constantly send us files and databases that way. It’s just the protocol."
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
It’s a protocol that more and more businesses are using.
According to the most recent census data, the workplace is becoming an important venue for adults to use computers and the Internet. As of September 2001, about 65 million of the 115 million adults over the age of 25 were using a computer at work, with 48 million of them using the Internet.
The numbers don’t surprise Ray Way, managing principal at Right Management Consultants, an East Providence placement firm.
"There is no question that the Internet is vital in today’s marketplace," he said. "Maybe even more so in our business because we are teaching people how to find their next job, and the Internet is an important part of that."
Individual companies aren’t using the Internet just for internal activities, but also to communicate with clients. In fact, e-mail is the most popular on-line activity both at work and at home. According to the U.S. Census, nearly half — 45 percent— of the population nationwide uses e-mail.
"I have found that my clients would prefer to send me information via e-mail. That .way if something is approved I can print it out and have it in writing," Del Monico said.
Way agreed.
"E-mail is just a way of life," he said. "It has simplified things so much. With voice mail you may never connect with a person, but with e-mail you can always connect. It’s just more efficient."
Still not every work place and not every employee is afforded the luxury or the opportunity of logging on to the Internet. According to the study, the proportion of people using a computer at work is 80.5 percent in managerial and professional specialty occupations, and 70.5 percent in technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. The median education level in these fields is a college degree or some college.
On the other end of the spectrum, only about one in five persons used a computer at work in the occupation categories for operators, fabricators, and laborers where the median attainment in education is a high school diploma.
"I don’t think that all of my employees need the Internet at their fingertips, but certainly our managers do. A lot of what they are doing is related to purchasing and ordering and much of that is done online," Del Monico said.
Nationwide Internet use both at work and at home is on the rise. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than two million new users sign on daily – with more than one-third using the World Wide Web to search for information.
The most popular Internet sites in recent months, according to the New York-based Jupiter Media Metrix, are those relating to health care and government sites. The Media Metrix study found that 35 percent of Internet users in January visited health-related sites, up from 28 percent the previous month. In addition, the study found that the government category, buoyed by tax and finance sites, rose 33 percent to 46.4 million visitors in January of this year.
"Similar to previous years, the annual rush to seek tax information online has hit full stride during January," Charles Buchwalter, Metrix president said in a recent interview.
Whether it’s searching for information, e-mailing clients and friends, or looking for a job, one thing remains clear – people are going to continue discovering the Internet.
"I think that if companies aren’t using it then they are behind the curve," Del Monico said. "It’s part of everyday life."
