No matter where you are<\/p>\n
Zatni Arbi
\nColumnist
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The word \"virtual\" is becoming more and more vague. We hear
\nthe word being used virtually every day. And, each time we hear
\nthe term \"virtual office\", we wonder what it means. Does it mean
\nan office in the virtual world, or does it mean that we have an
\noffice that is virtual?<\/p>\n
There are companies all over the world that can provide us
\nwith a fully furnished office, a prestigious address in the
\nCentral Business District that we can print on our business card
\nand letterhead, a phone number that will be answered in our
\ncompany's name, a high-end computer, professional secretarial
\nservice, meeting rooms complete with presentation tools, a lounge
\nand a kitchenette -- virtually everything that we need to run our
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
This type of arrangement is usually offered by establishments
\nthat prefer to call themselves \"serviced offices\".<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, one can set up a virtual office at one of the
\nserviced offices such as The Executive Center Indonesia in
\nDanamon Aetna Building, The CEO Suite in Wisma GKBI building,
\nPlaza Business Center at Menara KADIN tower, HQ Global Workplaces
\nat Ariobimo Sentral building and the Jakarta American Club in
\nWisma Kota BNI business complex. Yet, the office is virtual,
\nbecause we may be there for a couple of days and then move to
\nanother city in another country next week.<\/p>\n
A virtual office such as this one is a legitimate one. A
\nreputable virtual office provider will normally ask us to sign
\ncontracts that say that we agree not to conduct any illicit
\nbusiness on the premises.<\/p>\n
The fact that we move around does not mean that we cannot be
\nreached, as simple or complex technologies such as call
\nforwarding, cellphones, fax, e-mail, SMS, unified messaging and
\nother communication tools enable others to contact us at any
\ntime, regardless of our actual location. Any message received at
\nour virtual office will be forwarded to us, so we can give the
\nappropriate response whether we happen to be in Sydney, Seoul,
\nTaipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore or Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In other words, this type of virtual office means that no
\nmatter where we are at a given time, we are virtually in our
\nvirtual office. People still can communicate with us as if we
\nwere there at that address. This is the traditional meaning of
\nvirtual office.<\/p>\n
There is a different type of virtual office, though, and we
\nmay define it as an office in the virtual world. Technologies
\nsuch as Instant Messaging (IM) and Presence and Availability
\nManagement make it possible for us to have an office in
\nCyberspace. A number of companies, which specialize in corporate
\ncommunication solutions, are working hard to provide the building
\nblocks for this type of office.<\/p>\n
First, a lot of people may be very familiar with IM, and some
\nof them may be using the facility on a daily basis. It really
\nreflects the nature of human beings, who are always asking for
\nmore. For the rest of us, e-mail already allows us to communicate
\ncheaply and effectively with each other. For many, the word
\n\"instant\" should be added to their communication.<\/p>\n
Basically, if you have friends or family around the world, the
\nInternet-based IM may serve as a virtual meeting place for the
\nentire group. IM does not cost anything so far, and portals like
\nYahoo! and Microsoft's MSN offer this service for free. Yahoo
\ncalls its IM service \"Yahoo Messenger\", while Microsoft calls its
\nown \"Windows Messenger\".<\/p>\n
To use the services, you will have to download the application
\nfrom their respective Web sites. Then you register yourself and
\nadd a list of friends that you want to be included in your group-
\nwhich is much like Yahoo's e-group. When you run the application,
\nit will scour the Internet and give you the names of whoever
\namong your contacts in the group is online. Then you can page any
\nof these people and send him or her a message. A chat window will
\nappear with your messages. One is able to read and respond much
\nlike a typical telephone call. It is just like sending e-mail
\nmessages back and forth, only it resembles a real-world
\ndiscussion more closely.<\/p>\n
Some IM services also add the facility to hold a realtime
\nvoice conversation or even video conferencing. All you need is a
\nmultimedia PC-and a Webcam for capturing images. You can call a
\nphone from your PC, or you can call another PC anywhere on the
\nInternet.<\/p>\n
Other IM services can be found at dozens of other sites,
\nincluding Messenger.com (imessenger.com), Prodigy
\n(http:\/\/pim.prodigy.net\/) and, of course, AOL. Efforts are also
\nunderway to make IM a secure place and fit for supporting
\nbusiness communication, so companies such as imwave (imwave.com),
\nBantu (bantu.com) and Jabber Inc. (jabber.com) are working hard
\nto promote the use of secured IM in the business environment.<\/p>\n
Availability and presence management takes instant messaging
\nto new heights. Take Personity (personity.com), for example. This
\ncompany, in which the U.S. telecommunications giant Motorola has
\na share, is working on applications that will allow us to contact
\nother people in the group even though they are not on the
\nInternet. Personity's Instant Messaging and Presence Services
\n(IMPS) already enables wireless devices from Motorola, Nokia and
\nEricsson to exchange instant messages and presence information
\nmuch like what we can do over the Internet.<\/p>\n
So, the next time Jakarta is hit by a major flood -- and
\nunfortunately most likely it will -- you know that your boss will
\nalways want you to report to work.<\/p>\n
You may stay home, but you cannot hide from him. The only time
\nthat you may be able to escape is when there is no electricity in
\nthe house or your cellphone network is overloaded.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, you had better count on it that he will be using
\nall the next-generation technologies such as availability and
\npresence management to keep his office running in the virtual
\nworld.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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