Teleworking

Posted on January 10, 2005
Filed Under Business Computing, Networking, Security |

InnoVisions Canada reports that the trend toward teleworking, or working from home, continues to rise in Canada. Today’s technology makes it possible for employees do their jobs without coming into the office and the business owner to save on office space etc.

A 2001 EKOS Research study revealed that 11% of Canadians work primarily from home and 40% work from home on a part time basis. Of those who do work from home, 68% report improvement in their overall quality of life, 57% report improvement in their finances, 60% report improvement in their standard of living, and 36% report positive impact on career advancement.

There are benefits to this approach to working for both the employer and the employee. According to InnoVision, the benefits to an employer include:

 Saves office-space and parking requirements (some $2,000 per employee)
 Increases productivity and job performance (by 20% on average)
 Reduces absenteeism and healthcare-related costs (1 to 2 days per year on average)
 Reduces business disruptions due to emergencies (snow, power outages, illness etc)
 Accommodates those with health problems or disabilities  
 Improves morale and job satisfaction  

Employees have a lot to gain and InnoVision suggests that they benefit from:

 Reduced stress, while improving morale, work satisfaction and motivation
 Fewer interruptions allows greater focus and improved personal productivity
 Improved job satisfaction
 Reduced commuting time (commuting 1 hour each day equates to 6 full work-weeks a year)
 Reduced need to relocate
 Reduced personal leave
 Recognizes growing importance of family
 Helps balance work and family or life
 Makes “getting to work” easy for disabled persons.

This relatively new spin on the workplace wouldn’t be possible without some important technological advances.

The Internet is now highly available and with broadband service, it can also be quite fast. Broadband Internet service is also relatively inexpensive – at least where it is readily available – and is also very reliable.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allow a remote computer to securely access data on the company network over the Internet. The technology has matured to the point where properly configured they are highly secure and the cost of employing a VPN has become affordable

Where a VPN solution alone would not provide enough speed to run large applications that require a faster connection than broadband Internet provides, thin client technology can be used. Thin client computing simply uses the processing power of the computer you connect to and deliver only its screen output to your computer.

Finally, telephone advances such as Voice over IP (VoIP) allow a remote employee to be reached by extension and brings many or all of the features of a phone at your desk to a phone halfway around the world.

Teleworking is not for every business or every employee but where there is a fit, the benefits can be tremendous.

Learn more at InnoVision Canada’s web site: http://www.ivc.ca/

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