9.2 Types of Output

This section will discuss various types of outputs available for information system. Output can be classified by two categories:

	Internal output
	Internal output is purposely prepared only for the system owners and system users within its organization. Internal output is important in order to support day to day business operations or management monitoring and decision making. Top management used internal report to assist them to make a decision or introduced any changes within the organization.
	External output
	External output is an output that leaves the organization; they are purposely prepared for customers, suppliers, partners and regulatory agencies. They usually give a report on business transactions. Examples of external output are invoices, billing orders, account statement, and flight ticket.

Some outputs can fall under both internal and external output. This output leave the organization as an external output but it return back into organization as an internal output. Turnaround output is an external output that eventually reenters the system as input. This following section will discuss several types of outputs available such as report, screen output, email and others. Before we start our discussion on types of output, we assume that now, you are familiar with different common types of output devices such as printers, plotters, computer output on microfilm and PC display monitor.

9.2 Types of Output

9.2.1 Report

Report is the most widely used in any form as output. Report is a business document that contains only predefined data. It can be two approaches of report; printed report or viewed on screen report. Today, most organization chooses to prepare a report by viewing it on a screen and users can choose either to print it or not. Printed reports are convenient and sometimes are necessary in some situation. Sometimes, printed form also used in turnaround documents.

Whether printed or viewed on screen, reports should be attractive and easy to understand. Sometimes, management used reports prepared to make a judgment or decision based on the reports. A report should provide information needed by a user. When designing report, it's important to make sure that it contains the user's specific information needs. There are three types of reports. All this three types of report are under internal reports.

	Detailed reports
	Detailed reports present information with little or no filtering or restrictions as in Figure 9-2. A detailed report produces one or more lines of output for each record processed. Each line of output printed is called a detail line. A well designed detailed report should provide totals for numeric fields. The control field can be used in order to control the output.

9.2 Types of Output

	Summary reports
	Summary reports categorize information for upper-level managers who do not want to go through details. Upper-level management normally wants to see total figures but do not want to see any supporting details. The higher position, less information is needed. Generally, a report used by top level management in the organization includes less detail than reports used by low-level employees. The data for summary reports is typically categorized and summarized to indicate trends and potential problems. Sometimes the use of charts and graphs on summary reports is also good since they can see it in a clearer picture and more easy for them to analyze. Figure 9-3 shows an example of summary report.
	Exception reports
	An exception report displays only those records that meet a specific condition. It is useful when the user wants information only on records that might require action, but does not need to know the details. Sometimes, different types of users may require different types of information. So, instead of listing all the information which will make it crowded, it's more efficient to list only require information. Exception reports filter data before it is presented to the manager. Figure 9-4 shows an example of an exception report.

9.1 Overview of Report and Output Design

9.2.2 Screen Output

Currently, the fastest growing medium for information system output is the online display of information on a visual display of information on a visual display device, such as a CRT terminal or PC monitor. Screen output provides the system user with convenient access to information although the information displayed is only for temporary basis. When a user leaves the screen, information is lost unless the users revisit the screen again. Screen output also can be represented in type of graphical formats. Graphical output is the use of a pictorial chart to convey information in ways that demonstrate trends and relationships is not easily seen in tabular output Bentley et. al., 2007). Sometimes, representing an output by using graphic is more efficient more than using numeric output. It's because an interpretation is easy by using a graphic.

9.2.3 Point-of-Sale Terminal

Today, many retail and consumer transaction are enabled by using point of sale terminals. The common point of sale terminal is the automated teller machine (ATM). Point of sale terminal can be considered as both input and output devices. For example, ATM displays the account balances and prints the transaction receipt being done at that time.

9.2 Types of Output

9.2.4 E-mail

E-mail is not only used in communicating each other, but also in delivering the output to system users. New information system is expected to be message-enabled. When we purchased item from an online store, normally, we'll receive an automated email output to reconfirm the order. This email is considered as follow up email to reconfirm the purchase. It may contains information such as booking reference and item details. It is also considered as an output.