Teleworking, broadly defined, is the ability to work from a home or remote location for all or part of the work week. Companies have been implementing large-scale teleworking programs for close to a decade, following a trend that had its root in contact centers.
Use of home-based agents became a popular business strategy because of the clear, measurable results proven out by rigorous performance metrics, and the reduction in employee churn typical of many contact center operations. In recent years, improvements in technologies have led to a wider adoption of teleworking as an accepted work situation. Technology advances, such as high-speed Internet, IP telephony, e-mail, instant messaging, Web conferencing and videoconferencing, can streamline communications and collaboration among remote workers, enabling them to function as if they are in the same office.
The rise in teleworker programs makes a strong case for enterprises to consider the use of unified communications (UC) and may be the driving force leading to much wider deployments. The basic tenant of UC — communication and collaboration from anywhere, anytime — is demonstrated in the teleworker and mobile worker situations.
The federal government, as well as many state and local governments, are instituting telework programs. With some organizations considering four-day workweeks as an answer to rising energy costs, teleworking offers the benefits of a compressed workweek along with increased productivity, but without 10-hour days or the loss of service to customers for a full business day.
Organizations need clear, measurable goals before undertaking a teleworker program. Increasing employee flexibility and retention, cost savings, environmental concerns, and government incentives or mandates, for example, are among the top concerns of companies exploring teleworking programs.
Telecommuting programs allow organizations to hire new employees in remote geographies to take advantage of scarce skill sets or lower-cost labor. Some companies have used telecommuting to support their…