This case asks you to edit a memo.

The Case: Converting from Cellular to Digital Phone System

Judy Dolph has written a memo to her boss, Ellen Prentice, explaining why Northwest Engineering Consultants (NEC) should consider converting their cellular phone system to a digital operation. Since you recently took a technical-writing course, Judy has asked you to edit her memo.

The Task

Revise Judy's memo, paying particular attention to the guidelines on "Constructing Sentences" and "Selecting Words" in Chapter 8:

Contructing Sentences

1. Simplify your sentences.
2. Put the action in your verbs.
3. Use the active voice unless you have a good reason to use the passive voice.
4. Emphasize what's most important.
5. Smooth the flow of thought from sentence to sentence.
6. Vary your sentence length and structure.

Selecting Words

1. Use concrete, specific words.
2. Use specialized terms when—and only when—your readers will understand them.
3. Use words accurately.
4. Choose words with appropriate associations.
5. Choose plain words over fancy ones.
6. Ethics Guideline: Use inclusive language.

Documents/Information/Samples

The Memo

NORTHWEST ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS
Interoffice Memorandum

I would like to suggest a topic that I feel relevant for consideration for our next meeting, which is the lack of capacity of our current analog cellular telephone system to meet our future growth. Background on the problem are found in the following paragraphs:

The popularity of cellular telephones has made a dramatic growth over the past few years. As a result, the capacities of networks are being severely strained by customers in heavy use areas such as Los Angeles and New York City. Callers are often made to wait several minutes for a dial tone and sometimes find themselves completely blocked out during peak hours. Even with the capability of increasing the amount of calling channels by cell-splitting, there is an inadequate amount of frequency bandwidth in the allotted radio spectrum for high-density operations. As a result the cellular telephone business is turning to digital technology because of these problems.

Fully digital operation will allow voices to be transmitted by cellular phones in the form of a series of ones and zeroes, the language of the computer. The digital transmission of cellular telephony will result in many technical advances, which will improve services to the consumer. For example there will be a significant increase in the number of calls that can be handled over the existing allotted frequency bands. The cost of equipment to the subscriber will be greatly reduced in addition to better frequency utilization because digital telecommunication equipment is about half the cost of its analog counterpart. Lower operating costs result from the greater capacity and superior built-in diagnostic capabilities of digital systems, which is another benefit.

An increase in data transmission rates makes our ability to communicate by portable fax machines and laptop computers a reality. Moreover, voice and data transmissions, which are now broadcast in the clear and available to casual eavesdroppers or professional spies, can be encrypted.