Different ways to work remotely

Different ways to work remotely

The word "telework" was so sexy back in the mid-1980s. Today,
around 20 years later, the idea is still attractive, especially
if you live in places like Jakarta where, because of chronic
traffic problems, the average speed of your car is expected to go
down to only five kilometers per hour in just a couple of years!

However, technology has enabled us to do more than just work
-- or telecommute from home or a satellite office -- which was
its original idea. It has also enabled us to continue to work in
cafes, on airplanes and in hotel rooms. Yes, we have become more
mobile and we take our work everywhere.

If there was no such trend, people would not make broadband
Internet access available in airport lounges and hotel rooms.
Lufthansa and other air carriers would not offer in-flight
wireless Internet on their air crafts.

And, why do you think large companies invest in notebooks
rather than the less expensive desktop PCs for their employees to
use? Well, with the notebooks, the employees will be able to take
their work home and even on vacation. Wrapped in the label of
productivity enhancement, it may as well be an unpaid overtime
work arrangement.

Now, how can we work remotely? Most large enterprises
implement Virtual Private Network (VPN). It is a highly secured
"tunnel" that is created in the public telecommunication system
that lets an authorized employee remotely access his company's
network.

The main drawback is that it requires some investment, which
only larger companies can afford. Besides, people do not usually
build a VPN for their home PCs.

What if you are a freelancer who travels a lot? From time to
time, you may find yourself in need of a particular file that is
kept only on the hard disk inside your home office PC. Well, you
can certainly ask a family member to find the file and send it as
an attachment to your second or third e-mail address, and then
hope that the e-mail will arrive soon. Now, what if you live
alone or you do not like the idea of letting others -- including
your spouse -- know your password and poke around inside your
computer?

At least two services are available that will save you much
regret over not having copied the file to your notebook's hard
disk before you left. The first is GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com),
which has been available longer and I am sure I mentioned it in
one of my past articles.

You will need to subscribe to the services. GoToMyPC charges
from US$ 19.95 per month for one single PC to US$ 269.40 per year
for two PCs. You can also subscribe for more than 2 PCs if you
want more people in your company to have this facility.

Once you are registered, you will only have to log into
GoToMyPC, and you will have transparent access to all the data
and applications on your remote home or office PC. Of course, you
will need to leave your host PC on 24 hours a day and you will
want to have broadband access for your notebook PC.

Another service that you should also try out is MyWebExPC
(www.mywebexpc.com). WebEx even offers free service for up to
five PCs. This service is also designed for small and medium
businesses. The third one, which has been around for much longer,
is PCAnywhere from Symantec. This one was initially created to
connect two PCs over a peer-to-peer network, but now it can also
work over the Internet.

So, the next time you forgot to copy that important file into
your notebook, you don't need to bang your head against a brick
wall.

--Zatni Arbi

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