Worldwide Resources - Gil Gordon/Telecommuting

Updated April 4, 2007 This section includes a comprehensive list of telecommuting and telework resources from around the world. We've tried to include information about the telecommuting/telework field specifically, as well as related fields that may be of interest to you. The information is organized into the categories that appear in the purple menu bar to the left. You'll find a summary of the latest updates in the box to the right; if you scroll down on this page you'll find links to those recent update items.		This update cycle there is a new conference listed that will take place in the late summer in Lillehammer, Norway. There is a new association listed called The Telework Exchange. There are several new products and services from companies such as RHUB Communications, My Professional Library, Consultant BIM, Sequil Systems, iareaoffice, OfficeDigits, Flex Run, Siemens Corp., Cedarshed Industries, Comcast, Office.com and SureTime. We have two new global resources from Tampa Bay, Florida and Sterling, Kansas. An Australian Government has a new online resource of interest. There is also a new article from SamePage.com about telework, virtual office, and related topics. As well as several other articles and reports from publications such as SonicWall, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington (DC) Metropolitan Telework Centers, the Telework Coalition, and WorldatWork/ITAC.

	August 28-30 - The 12th International Workshop on Telework, in Lillehammer, Norway. The theme of the conference is "“Innovations and e-collaborations in Distributed Organizations” - full details available here.

	The Telework Exchange is "a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework and facilitating communication among teleworkers, telework managers, and IT professionals"; it offers a range of seminars and reports.

Office.com is described as "an integrated suite of fifteen applications that can be accessed from any Internet browser. It allows telecommuters a turnkey solution to collaborating and communicating with colleagues." SureTime is described as "the worldÕs first billing assurance software program. SureTime allows employers to authenticate billable time whether it's coming from an on-site employee, work-at-home telecommuter, or off-site contractor." RHUB Communications manufactures a web conferencing device that is "simple, secure and affordable" and can be installed behind the corporate firewall. My Professional Library is a "low-cost hosted collaborative web-based document management application for storing, easily finding and retrieving your professional documents." Consultant BIM is a web-based business information manager for professional service firms, offering document storage, retrieval and shared usage. Sequil Systems offers a cell phone booster designed to improve cell service reception in enclosed areas (such as homes) where cell coverage varies from room to room. iareaoffice is an "internet-area network" that allows distributed workers to collaborate from different locations as if they were working on the same network in the office. OfficeDigits provides "free broadband phone service for fax, voice and conferencing," including the ability to deliver faxes as PDF files to an email inbox. Flex Run is an on-demand software service providing a "virtual team management solution." OpenScape offered by Siemens Corp. is described as a "presence-based, real time, multi-resource communications tool" for team and workgroup collaboration. Cedarshed Industries offers a do-it-yourself backyard office kit called "The Ultimate Backyard Office." Comcast Teleworker is the commercial-grade cable modem offering from Comcast Cable.

	Telework Tampa Bay is a "one stop telework resource" for commuters and employers in the Tampa Bay area. Sterling Services handles customer service outsourcing using students from Sterling College in Sterling, KS.

Flexibility Works - Assisting Workplace Flexibility in Retail" is maintained by the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. It is designed to help employers in Australia's biggest industry, the retail industry, implement flexible work practices to manage the day-to-day needs of their workforce as well as predicted workforce trends.

	SamePage.com has a number of articles on telework, virtual office, virtual assistants and related topics available. SonicWall, a manufacturer of integrated network security and productivity solutions, produced a report about telecommuter productivity, and the news release about it wins the award for the most unusual telecommuting/telework title of the year Ð "Survey Shows Employees Rate Productivity High, Security and Clothing Low When Working From Home SonicWALL Survey Shows Greater Freedom Among Out-of-Office Worker Community Keeps Dishes and Workload Up-to-Date, Bad Temper at Bay." "Security for Telecommuting and Broadband Communications" is the title of Special Publication 800-46 issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. "Telework Center Survey" is the title of a report conducted by the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Telework Centers in March 2006. This survey asked the question: "Why do users prefer using telework centers over home-based telework?" TELCOA (the Telework Coalition) issued a telework benchmarking study in March 2006, identifying best practices for large scale implementation in public and private sector organizations. This study asked managers of several mature and well established telework programs, recognized as being among the most successful in both the private and public sectors, what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently if they could start again from the ground up. See the executive summary or the full report. "Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy" is available from WorldatWork/ITAC. The chapter on Technology Solutions provides information about preventing laptop theft and keeping the network secure.