By David Reed, President of Remote Office Consulting, LLC

The improvements in the area of technology over the past ten years have made telecommuting a reality for many who would not have been able to perform their job away from the central office. One of the keys to having a successful home office is learning how to embrace technology and putting it to use.

One of the popular tools allows people across town, on opposite sides of the country, or even around the world to hold meetings without all the expense associated with travel. I utilize GoToMeeting to have design sessions with groups of users, permitting me to show my screen to a group across the country while they are gathered in a conference room. The meeting tools have features to highlight objects, point to items on your screen, and edit documents. You may pass control to others, giving them the ability to share whatever is on their computer screen.

There are many other tools, such as Instant Messaging or email that help us communicate with our teammates, customers, or even our boss. If you are going to be successful as a telecommuter, you must maximize the use of technology.

There are several things that you may not think of when you first start working away from an established office.

1. Data Backups. If you are storing data on your local PC, make sure you have a process to back your data up on a regular basis. The frequency of your backups can be determined by answering the question: "How many days of work am I willing to repeat if I lose my hard disk on my computer?" For most people, I recommend at least weekly backups, but if you create a lot of files, a nightly backup would be appropriate. There are low-cost backup drives that you can purchase for under $200. I do a full backup of my PC every week and back up key files as needed during the week.

2. Battery Backups. Depending on where you live and the stability of the power distribution network, having a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) may be very important. Having your PC and other devices connected to a UPS unit will protect your system from a power surge or a momentary loss of power.

3. Technical Support. Most companies have invested in the support tools necessary for the centralized Information Technology support staff to connect to a remote PC and do almost everything that they could do if they were physically in your home.

Another key part of your home office technology package is your telephone. If you spend a fair amount of your day on the phone with co-workers or customers, I recommend the purchase of a hands-free headset. You can cause a lot of neck and shoulder pain by attempting to hold your phone to your ear while working on the computer. Having a separate phone line for your work is recommended, especially if other family members need to use the phone during your typical work hours.

There are many aspects to creating the technology solution that best fits your home office needs. The key is to embrace the technology, and not fear it. A small investment of time to become trained on your tools and software will pay big dividends towards your productivity.

Quote

"The advances in networking, telecommunications, and computing technologies in the past decade have opened up a whole new world of possibilities for telecommuting workers. The Internet, remote access communications, mobile computing, and new small office/home office technologies head the list of advances that can now greatly benefit telecommuters."

Database Systems Corp.
By Jason Hiner MCSE, CCNA senior editor for TechRepublic