Office Memorandum

Office memorandum or inter-office correspondence, also called house, internal, inter-departmental, or inter-branch correspondence, includes all written communications pertaining to a firm’s business passing between employees and officials of that firm. Large business houses have well-organized systems of inter-office correspondence, and even they make every possible attempt to reduce the volume of such correspondence to a minimum by using, whenever practicable, the telephone, the cellphone, the conference, the Dictograph, the Amlicall, the Teletalk, the Bel-fone, and the Operadio for inter-office communication.

Still, a written message is, under certain circumstances, more satisfactory than a telephonic or oral message. It is confidential and personal. A carbon copy may be made so that the one who sends the message, as well as the one who receives it, can have a copy for reference. This is particularly desirable when the information may be used over a considerable period of time, or when a reference may be made to the information at or when a reference may be made to the information at some time in the future. A written message also fixes responsibility and therefore helps to develop an efficient organization.