BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MARCH 27, 2000 ISSUE
FRONTIER -- FEATURES Tools of the Remote Trade The first thing that a new employee receives at DKM Inc. is a notebook computer--a symbol of the Los Angeles manufacturing consultancy's commitment to virtual work arrangements. ''We cover the entire L.A. basin,'' says President Murat Sehidoglu. ''It doesn't make much sense to force someone to come to the office if the client is 10 minutes from home.'' Especially considering the Los Angeles traffic snarls. Sehidoglu also pays for a second phone line in each of his 24 employees' home offices and, if necessary, springs for a printer or scanner. ''We tend to supplement what they already have,'' he says, ''or improve it.'' As a result, DKM's consultants can meet at a manufacturer's plant in the morning and finish up their day's work at home in the afternoon. What Sehidoglu provides for his employees is the basic technology necessary for working virtually. But there are plenty of more elaborate Web-based services that will help bring together your far-flung employees. Sehidoglu improved communication among his staff by having everyone sign up for the free Web scheduling service SchedulePlus (table). Among other things, telecommuting employees use the site to reserve time in the office conference room and avoid scheduling conflicts. Accountant Carolyn Sechler in Phoenix bounces around ideas with her virtual team in real time by using the free ICQ Internet chat service (www.icq.com). Consultant Gil Gordon, who advises companies on telecommuting from his headquarters in Monmouth Junction, N.J., suggests taking collaboration one step further by using the Web conferencing service PlaceWare (www.placeware.com). For a fee of $400 annually per ''seat'' at the virtual conference, the service lets you present a PowerPoint slide on a common Web page that all meeting participants can access. It also lets you receive answers to yes/no questions in real time to gauge the thoughts of employees. Although Kim Clayton's employees at Select Benefit Administrators in West Des Moines, Iowa, already had PCs at home, he paid for extra software licenses so that his computer consultant could load crucial applications on those home machines. Direct marketer Keith Lindbeck, owner of Beginning 2 End Inc. in San Francisco, furnishes his contract designers with Macintosh computers just like the ones they use in the office, so they can work from home full-time. Given the city's high rents, it's still cheaper to do things that way rather than providing workers with office space. If your employees just e-mail the work from their home computers, make them use the Windows or Macintosh password features to protect any specified folders with work-related files. Lawyers say that would limit your liability if the files were lost or stolen because you've taken reasonable precautions to safeguard clients' data. Security concerns increase when you let employees access the company's server by dial-up, but your worries are far greater if they come in over the Internet. Even with firewalls in place, Sehidoglu is uncomfortable connecting the firm's IBM AS/400 minicomputers directly to the Net via his always-on, high-speed T-1 line. His employees must dial in using a much slower modem. Sound complicated? There are simpler ways to communicate with a far-flung workforce. Jay Wilkinson, owner of an AlphaGraphics shop in Lincoln, Neb., provides company cell phones to all his telecommuters--and has reconfigured his office phone system to forward their incoming calls. With technologies like these in place, the chances you'll lose touch with your employees is, pardon the expression, pretty remote. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Remote Control TABLE: Managing the Challenge of a Virtual Workforce CHART: LAN Lubbers Backyard Bean Counter Tools of the Remote Trade TABLE: Let's Get Virtual INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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