Kieran Cooper considers the alternative technologies that can help you keep in touch when you?re out of the office
?I?m away from my desk at the moment?
As often happens, I?m writing this article using my laptop computer taking advantage of another long train journey. I don?t know what I?d do without my trusty portable, but as technology develops there are more and more ways in which I can keep in touch with what?s happening back at the office, even when I?m working from home, or travelling around the country.
If you want to work on documents or emails then the first requirement is some kind of computer. A laptop is the obvious choice, but they can be heavy and not particularly easy to use in confined spaces. If you only need to be able to write letters or emails then a handheld computer (a Personal Digital Assistant or ?PDA? as they are known) can be a very good alternative. Nowadays software for recognising handwriting is becoming increasingly sophisticated, or there are devices with small keyboards that allow much faster text input. These machines mostly come with software to allow you to synchronise with your computer back at the office so you can download your diary, address book and emails when you leave and then send back any changes you?ve made whilst you?ve been away.
Both laptops and PDAs can also be set up to work with most modern mobile phones to allow you to connect to the Internet to send and receive email, and to do limited web browsing. The speeds may be reminiscent of the modems of 10 years ago, but when you are on the road, any ability to connect to email is frequently better than none! New ways of increasing the connection speed are coming along all the time ? most networks now offer high-speed data connections and a new type of connection called GPRS is also starting to become popular since it can be set up to be ?always on? so that you don?t have to waste time whilst the modem dials. The 3G mobile phone technology that?s just around the corner (although it may be rather a long corner) promises extremely fast data connections which will revolutionise life for those of us who never seem to be in the office but really need to be connected to the outside world.
Basic telephone systems often have features that can help people keep in touch when they?re away, but sometimes these are buried deep in an instruction manual. Even a standard single phone line can be set up to allow calls to be forwarded to another phone, and modern office switchboards can allow much more complicated arrangements. It?s usually possible for people with voice mail to dial in and listen to messages from any phone in the world, which can be useful if you don?t want to be disturbed whilst you?re out, but do want to know what?s going on back home.
At the more technically complex end of the spectrum, computer networks can be set up for people to dial-in from outside. You can set your home machine up so that it then appears to be exactly as if you were sitting at your desk in the office - your emails, programs and files will all be available. This technology (a mixture of Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Terminal Services, in case you wanted to know) generally means a higher up-front cost when a network is set up, but it can be easily repaid from the time saved by staff who are not based in the office (freelance technical managers, for instance) or those who want to work from home but still need access to all their files.
Alternatively, of course, you may want to leave the office well behind when you go out to a meeting, like people seemed to manage to do perfectly well until only a few years ago. Whilst for some people the idea of never being out of touch is extremely appealing, for others it is their personal vision of hell. And if that mobile phone rings once more before I get to my destination, I may be inclined to agree with them!
Kieran Cooper is a Director of the arts management consultancy Catalyst Arts t: 01225 340340; e: kieran@catalystarts.com; w: http://www.catalystarts.com