Technology is also enabling people with chronic illnesses to remain productive. The BBC radio rugby commentator Alastair Hignell, who represented England in both rugby union and cricket, has had multiple sclerosis for the past seven years, during which time he has commentated and written up match reports all over the world. “I use Dragon Naturally Speaking voice-recognition software,” he says. “I’m finding it more and more useful, as my right arm doesn’t want to work that long. Sometimes I can’t read my own handwritten notes, so I take my laptop with me wherever I go, and I’m having software developed that gives me access to all sorts of statistics at the press of only one or two keys, a kind of computer shorthand. I use the internet all the time for research and news — I couldn’t do my job without it.”
Hignell, 50, who lives in Bristol, also has a dedicated ISDN line installed at home. “It’s invaluable if I need to broadcast at 7.15am,” he says. “I can do it in my slippers.” ()
Andrew Tarbard, 47, from Shotley, Suffolk, is another devotee of voice-recognition software. A motorcycle accident in 1990 led to the loss of his right arm and leg. Formerly an engineer for a ship-repair firm in Essex, Tarbard thought his working life was over after the accident. But he was offered a job back at his old firm and gradually learnt how to use adaptive technologies such as single-handed keyboards, tracking balls and IBM’s voice-recognition software. “I spent at least two hours a day for three months training it to recognise my voice. I haven’t changed systems for years because it works so well now.”
From thinking that he would never work again, Tarbard now owns the company he once worked for, which employs 17 people and has a turnover approaching £1m. His biggest barrier, however, is his location. Despite BT’s insistence that 99.8% of the UK has broadband access, Tarbard’s part of Suffolk still does not — much like the village outside Newbury on which Doors reported earlier this year (www.tinyurl.com/g852e). Before broadband, VPNs were cumbersome beasts, says the cricketer Bowker. “When we had a dial-up internet connection, the VPN was notoriously slow. Now we’ve got broadband, things are a lot faster.”
Flexible working is far from a land of milk and honey, though. Quite apart from the danger of being incommunicado if your broadband goes down for the day, remote working brings with it a new set of problems, to do with security, career progression and social interaction.
Remote workers cause headaches for IT departments. Not only is there a risk that unauthorised people could infiltrate company intranets over VPNs and gain access to confidential data, but mobile gadgets packed with sensitive information are often stolen. Some careless employees’ habit of keeping their user names and passwords on Post-it notes stuck onto their laptops is enough to keep IT staff in a cold sweat.
But most employees are responsible adults, worthy of greater trust, argues James Adams, of the technology research company Datamonitor. “IT departments are resistant to flexible working because it makes their job more difficult. They lose some control. Security is often cited as a concern, but that is just an excuse,” he insists.
But could less office “face time” mean you get overlooked for promotion? Ursula Huws is a professor of international labour studies at London Metropolitan University and author of The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World. She says: “There is evidence that not being seen in the office can affect your career prospects. Freelancers and homeworkers can also lose the habits of deference that oil the wheels of office life.”
Social isolation is another pitfall, Huws says. “Studies have found that people love working from home for the first six months, but when there is an office reorganisation and new faces appear, teleworker paranoia sets in. They feel out of the loop.”
There is also the danger that, as well as giving us more freedom, communications technologies are turning us into slave workers, as the distinction between home and office blurs. Sarah Veale, of the Trades Union Congress, warns: “We do worry about the work/life balance for teleworkers, as all this technology is potentially moving us towards a 24-hour work culture. You need to set firm boundaries with your employer, and self-employed people, in particular, need to be disciplined.”
The office walls may be crumbling, but freedom, it seems, comes at a price. Such concerns are clearly not stopping growing numbers of people seizing the chance to adopt a more flexible lifestyle.
REMOTE CONTROL: TELEWORKING TIPS
Make the most of what you already have. Microsoft Office XP includes edit-tracking functions for collaborating on documents. Comments and insertions from different authors can easily be identified with a little training.
Access your office computer through a broadband internet connection. Some software packages have features for sharing files and documents: Windows XP Professional comes with a remote desktop built in, and Office XP includes SharePoint. Other providers include Citrix Online (www.citrixonline.com) and WebEx (www.webex.com).
Ditch your office altogether by opting for a web-based system. www.Streamload.com offers 25GB of free web storage for sharing files; www.securevirtual.com provides a virtual Windows desktop online. Up to five people can work on the same document with www.diino.com.
Share your timetable online for free with Google Calendar (www.google.com/calendar) or www.30boxes.com.
Experiment with VoIP telephony services such as GossipTel or Skype.
You need a computer, a decent headset (with a microphone) and broadband. Calls between Skype users are free. Other rates vary. A non-geographic “SkypeIn” number costs about £30 per year, with voicemail.
Consider a 3G data card for your laptop. Though Doors has reservations about 3G networks, they do help you to work more flexibly — when you are within signal range. Some cards claim download speeds of up to 1.8Mbps.
Don’t set automatic log-on on your laptop. Doing so could give a thief the key to your office. Choose “strong” security passwords of at least six characters when using remote-access software or a mobile gadget. Change them frequently and never write them down.
For more general advice on remote working, try www.bcentral.co.uk or www.businesslink.gov.uk. Business Link offers detailed, impartial suggestions for management as well as staff.
