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The most frequently asked
questions about telework: |
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What is 'Teleworking'
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Teleworking is working at a distance from
your employer or clients, either at home, on the road, or at a locally
based centre. In this new business environment you can work almost
anywhere so long as you have access to a computer, telephone and fax
to keep in contact with your employer, customers or clients.
Teleworking includes:
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Home-based telework or "telecommuting",
when an employee or contractor works at home instead of travelling
to an employer's or a customer's premises. |
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Mobile telework, when executives,
professionals or service staffs using ICTs to enable them to
spend more time with customers and to deliver "on the road"
a range of services and capabilities that previously would have
involved office based staff or visits to the company offices; |
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Telecentres, providing local
office facilities for people who prefer not to work at home
but wish to avoid the cost, time and inconvenience of commuting; |
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Telecottages, which provide local
communities with access to skills development, high performance
ICTs, and the networking and socialisation aspects of work that
may be missed by a home based worker. |
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Functional relocation, where
business functions that previously were located close to the
customer are concentrated and delivered at a distance; examples
include both "front office" (selling activities previously
done in the High Street, now delivered by phone or computer
networks) and "back office" (service and maintenance
work previously done "on site", which may now be done
anywhere in the world using remote access to systems). |
Telework also affects some kinds of "outsourcing",
in that many kinds of work can now be done from thousands of miles
away and "outsourced" across national borders. Telework
has also been said to include "dispersed team working",
in which (for example) an engineering company uses three or more teams
in different time zones to work 24 hours a day on a time-sensitive
customer tender, with each team "passing the baton" to the
next at the end of its working day. |
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Why Telework ? |
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Companies/corporations can keep down fixed
overheads, access skills from a wide catchment area and expand
their workforce without major capital input. |
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More flexibility with business hours, less
travel - less stress. |
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Less travel means less pollution, less traffic
on the roads and better use of inner city office space. |
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Improved technologies means that there is
nothing that can be done in the office that can't be done at
home - with the use of ISDN (videoconferencing, fast file transfer),
the Internet (email and World Wide Web) as well telephones and
faxes. |
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Who Teleworks
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A teleworker may be a full-time employee
of an organisation (telecommuter) who works from a remote base (usually
a home office) or a self-employed person who accesses work and delivers
services to customers remotely through the use of communications technology.
Examples include: |
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Professionals and management specialists:
architects, accountants, management,
marketing specialists, public relations personnel, human resources
personnel, finance personnel, financial analysts and brokers.
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Professional support workers:
book-keepers, translators, proofreaders,
editors, technical writers, indexers, researchers. |
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'Itinerant' field workers:
company representatives, surveyors,
inspectors, property negotiators, auditors, journalists, insurance
brokers. |
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Information technology specialists:
systems analysts, software programmers
and engineers. |
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Clerical support workers:
data entry staff, word processor operators,
directory enquiry staff, sales and customer service staff. |
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What are the essential
equipment requirements for Teleworking ? |
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This varies according to the work being
done and the situation within which the teleworker delivers services,
but some or all of the following equipment may be used by the teleworker: |
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Personal Computer/Laptop |
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Software |
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A dedicated telephone - usually two
lines, one for voice messages and one for data |
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A Printer |
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Answering Machine or equivalent |
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Fax |
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Scaner |
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Modem (if not installed as part of the computer
package) |
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Broad band connectivity if work involves
the transfer of large files or for video conferencing |
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How can I start
Teleworking ? |
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If you have access to IT equipment and feel
that you have a particular field of expertise, for example: Web design,
Graphic Design, Desktop Publishing, Document Services, Proofreading,
Editing, Journalism, Computer & Administration Bureau Services,
Database/Spreadsheet Applications, Data Processing/Scanning, Payroll
Administration, Computerised Accounts, Financial Analysis, Mailing
Agency, Translation Services, Event Management, Correspondence Handling,
Theses Compilation, Compilation of Mailing Lists, Consultancy Services
- you then have a very good base to start from. |
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| Our
address is: 49, Khan Asparuh Str., entr.A, ap.7, Sofia 1000 Tel.(+3592)
981 47 62, Fax (+3592) 981 55 41 e-mail: bgta@virtech-bg.com |
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