CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides the general introduction of the research work by examining background to
the study, stating the problems that will be solved as a result of this research work. Furthermore,
the research’s’ aims objectives will be stated, its significance to stakeholders and the area the
research work covers as well as its limitations.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully
dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high
bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally charged by the minute or
part of hour. An Internet café will generally also offer refreshments or other services such as
phone repair. Internet cafés are often hosted within a shop or other establishment. They are
located worldwide, and many people use them when traveling to access webmail and instant
messaging services to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travelers, in many
developing countries Internet cafés are the primary form of Internet access for citizens as a
shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software.
Internet cafés are a natural evolution of the traditional café. As Internet access rose many pubs,
bars, and cafés added terminals and eventually Wi-Fi hotspots, eroding the distinction between
the Internet café and normal cafés. In recent years, traditional internet cafés have experienced a
significant decline in developed countries due to the widespread availability of personal internet
access devices. (Times, 2024) Conversely, in regions like Southeast Asia, internet cafés have
evolved into esports cafés, serving as community hubs for gamers and training grounds for
professional players.

There is no doubt that the emergence of the internet has affected the way things are done.
Research has been improved upon and even the business world had and is still having its own
share of the benefits of the internet. This internet boom has led to the boom of cyber café and in
internet access the home, schools and offices. To the average mind, how much profit you make
from the business does not matter much, but industrial players know that their aims are to
maximize profit while at the same time offering convenient and attractive services to their
clients, for instance, the average person just want to spend time browsing the internet at the
detriment of the service provider or even office work or school work; problem that has been of
major concern to employee of labor and school administration and other service providers alike
to place limits on their computer system with the internet access.

There is issue of inappropriate timing as it affects pricing, for instance, if a user pay for 20
minutes and end up using only 14 minutes, who should be responsible for the balance? Thus
there is need for a structure to be in place that will come to the rescue of cases of conflicts
particularly in cyber cafes, there is need for proper timing of customers for the time spent using
the internet access time provided to them. Many solutions for timing internet access has been
developed such as time watcher, cyber clock, internet café’s timer administration, cyber guage,
café cup, pc timer, net timer software, diginix e.t.c. however, the available solutions are having
one or more shortcomings. It could be said that each one of the solutions available has its own
plus, the plus of the several options can be observed and put together to form a solution that
serves the shortcomings of the various options, the project is designed to provide a timer
software so as to gather the strong points and put them together into a single application.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

This research work has identified problems which include the following:

 Issues relating to under utilization or overutilization of time by client.

 Problems of reliability and efficiency of network systems always experienced by clients.
 Problems of management staff not having accurate timely information of services utilized
by clients.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aims and objectives of this research work are stated below as follows:

i. To ensure that user does not exceed the stipulated time allotted to him/her.
ii. To support network timer system.
iii. To prevent unauthorized access to the system.
iv. To ensure that client software display time left in the task bar.
v. To avoid multiple log-in from same account.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance or importance of this research work or study is to device a complete timer
software package that will enable café management to have a proper billing system for their
clients or customers and will also provide a comprehensive log on its database for reference
purpose. Furthermore, it will provide good record system for government agencies as regarding
proper taxation and also serve as guide for further researches.

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This research work covers the design of cyber café timer software that monitors care operations
such as creating user accounts, deleting user accounts, editing accounts, clearing log, generating
reports and exiting the software at server end. While at the client end, authorized users can pause
time, resume time and log off the timer software. The research work is limited to consultation
with cyber café operators, text books, internet café (Google) and existing internet timer software.

1.6 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY

Knowledge is fast becoming the universal currency of the 21st century, and since knowledge is
derived to a large extent from information, ICT will continue to play a pivotal role in the
transformation of human societies. Given the low Internet penetration rate in Nigeria, the need to
encourage investment in ICT services cannot be over-emphasised. The current structure of cyber
cafe businesses in Nigeria need to be fi ne-tuned in order to make them provide better and
increased access to Internet services. This has necessitated the need to identify the factors or
indices that would enhance their overall performance and profitability.

1.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

 Cyber Cafe: An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience
store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers
with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally charged
by the minute or part of hour
 Computer: A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is
a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as word
processing, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and gaming. Personal
 computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer
expert or technician
 Users: A user is a person who uses a computer or network service. A user often has
a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Some
software products provide services to other systems and have no direct end users.
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVEIEW