Ready, set, go! Tools you need to telecommute - Your Portable Office - Brief Article

You look at your watch and wonder how you are going to finish a project at the office and be home in time to meet the plumber. Or, maybe you're stuck in an airport with hours to kill and a deadline looming back at the office. You can easily overcome these obstacles using tools for working anywhere, anytime. Let's get you started.

TAKE INVENTORY

Look around your office to determine what tools you need to work anywhere. What do you use daily? First, you need devices to communicate. A phone, e-mail, calendars, word processing and spreadsheet functions are essential to CPAs. In my home office, I have a computer, photocopier, fax, shredder, cordless phone and scanner. All are smaller, home versions.

YOUR COMPUTER

A laptop with a docking station for home use is convenient. While at home in its docking station, you use a full-size keyboard, mouse and screen. When you need to take the laptop on the road, simply unlock it and go.

CUT THE CORDS

Think of ways to "cut the cords" for the road. Cell phones from Ericsson, www.ericsson.com/microe, now have wireless, bluetooth-enabled headsets that create wireless links between mobile computers, mobile phones, portable handheld devices and Internet access.

STREAMLINE

Need to work on nothing but e-mail and word processing? Take only a handheld computer (such as Palm or Pocket PC) with a foldable keyboard. Add a wireless modem from Earthlink (formerly OmniSky), www.earthlink.net/mobile, to a handheld computer and you can send and receive e-mail and access the Internet from anywhere service is available. Need only e-mail? Consider a Blackberry, www.blackberry.net, wireless device that can send and receive e-mail.

HIGH-SPEED ACCESS

There are several ways to safely and securely access data stored on your office PC from a remote location. At the top of your shopping list should be: high-speed Internet access. Whether it's a cable modem, DSL or satellite, you and your office must install this on your computers. If you don't, your remote-access experience will be a headache. Dial up should be used only as a last resort. Many hotels now have high-speed access in their rooms--check your technology options before you travel.

CONNECT REMOTELY

The easiest, but less secure, way to access data is to use one of several remote-control software programs. Programs such as Web-based GoToMyPC.com and PCanywhere software, allow you to remotely connect to your PC with a username and password. To work, your workstation computer must be on and connected to the Internet.

KEEP IT SECURE

Need more secure connectivity? Set up a virtual private network. A VPN provides a way to access your company's network resources by using an encrypted tunnel over the Internet. A VPN can be either hardware or software-based; VPNs based on the hardware of the industry leader, Cisco, www.cisco.com, are more robust.

CHECK WIRELESS OPTIONS

Still relatively new, wireless LAN technologies allow a firm to set up a wireless access point. That way you can use your laptop, equipped with a special card, to transmit and receive from anywhere without the bulky cable needed to access a corporate network connection.

So, if your laptop has wireless LAN capability and you are at SeaTac airport in Seattle, you can access the Internet without plugging into a network connection. As the technology grows and as its encryption level increases the possibilities for easy data access are endless.

BE PREPARED TO DIAL

Realistically, it will take time to universally implement high-speed technologies. Sometimes your hotel will have only dialup connectivity. Always be ready with a dial-up alternative and modem cables. Ensure that you are plugging the modem cable into an approved dataport connection. You might carry a modem filter to ensure that you won't "fry" your computer. If you travel the globe, AT&T's Worldnet or AOL are two services used internationally more than other ISPs.

DON'T STOP HERE

For more online information on telecommuting visit:

* www.sohoconsumer.com;

* www.worknakedbook.com;

* www.gilgordon.com;

* www.telecommute.org; or

* www.mother.com/dfleming/index.htm.

For a remote-worker's shopping list, visit CalCPA online at www.calcpa.org/TBRG/telecommute.

Susan E. Bradley, CPA, CITP, MCP, is a partner in the Fresno-based firm Tamiyasu, Smith, Horn and Braun. She can be reached at sbradley@tshb.com.

COPYRIGHT 2002 California Society of Certified Public Accountants
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group