Page 188 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

hiring and preparing great mobile talent � 167

` At-home (home-BAsed) moBIle workForCe

Technology empowers small- to large-sized businesses alike to con-
duct business from the homes of their employees. They do it by estab-
lishing secure, trustworthy communication and information-sharing
capabilities between the office and where employees live. This could
be via a mobile device or VoIP phone, laptop, or desktop computer
that has a secure connection. This group talks to clients and staff, cre-
ates documentation (such as customer service records), conducts and
attends conference calls and online meetings, and fulfills roles such as
dispatch or accounting. The primary communication is not through
face-to-face meetings but through direct customer and team contact
through use of technology or as an individual contributor. This is a
virtual employee, one who spends the entire day within the digital
environment and has developed skills that help boost credibility and
deliver information effectively, and who trusts that the Internet con-
nection and the reliability is always on.

typical profile: At-home mobile workers
Here’s what a typical profile looks like for an average at-home mobile
worker:

` Office. Both has a fixed office in the home and uses wireless
modems to connect in many locations within the home
` Movement. Home to office, occasionally some city-to-city
traveling
` Role types. Small business owners and managers of large com-
panies, customer service agents, online sales agents, technical
support agents
` Mobile technology. Laptops with wireless capability, wireless
modems, PDAs, smartphones with e-mail, SMS, and some
file storage, virtual private network (VPN) for secure access