114
T W E N T Y
t h r e e
E
ver thought of a situation in which you were
stuck in Ghaziabad when you should have been in your office at Delhi churning out
those sales performance reports. Ensuring access to information and office services
while on the move and trying to introduce flexible schedules has always remained a
challenge for professionals. However, with the introduction of new technologies that
enable professionals to take such challenges head on, organizations are actively looking at
empowering employees with the teleworking culture. In India too, where we are besieged
with problems relating to commuting and transportation, teleworking is set to emerge as
a viable style of working.
An international research organization has estimated that by the year 2002, nearly 50
million workers in the US and Europe, combined, will be teleworkers. And who are
teleworkers? Teleworkers are professionals, typically in service or infotech industries,
who share resources and office infrastructure with co-workers. Moreover, they have
the ability to operate from home and elsewhere and come to office only for special
services. They work on the premise of contributing at least minimum productivity levels
and output. Research has shown that the above factors allow teleworkers to have a better
grip over their time and productivity. Whether you call it teleworking, “hot desking” or
telecommuting, the trend towards encouraging people to work from home is undoubtedly
on the increase.
One of the greatest challenges faced by teleworkers is the availability of ideal equipment
and software tools. These include high speed network connections to the office, software
to properly synchronize date between the office network and the remote desktop and
ways to provide better support to teleworkers. All of these are vital components to
effective teleworking.
For example, Symantec Corporation UK and USA serves this emerging market
internationally. It sells products which allow users to remotely access faxes as well as
remotely control other PCs to retrieve data and carry out technical support assessment. It
is now widely accepted that there are three leading tools-related issues facing teleworkers.
Chief among them are:
The Indian Express May 1, 1998
Towards Teleworking Technologies
