Posts Tagged ‘Small Office Home Office’

Keep Your PC Protected With These Free Tools

April 15th, 2009 in Small Office Home Office    No Comments

This short article directs home office readers to several Internet sites where they can download free programs that can help to protect their computer systems, including:

  • AVE (free.avg.com) – an easy-to-use program that kills viruses and spyware and prevents users from going to sites infected with malware or opening any virus-carrying files or programs already on their PC;
  • IOBIT’s Advanced System Care (iobit.com) – a program that cleans up hard drives, scans for spyware and erases PC activity and web-surfing history; and
  • Avast! Home Edition (avast.com) – protects PCs from viruses, spyware and rootkits (nasty programs that can hide on hard drives). Prevents malware from slipping into PCs from instant messaging programs.

Source: Staff, Inc.; Apr, 2009, v31 i3 p49

Taking It Home: Telecommuting Options Drive Workplace Success

January 15th, 2009 in Small Office Home Office    No Comments

The nation’s current economic crisis may be spurring more companies to offer telecommuting as a work option to help retain employees and save them money. A number of states are ahead of this curve, creating telecommuting policies and encouraging companies to do the same in an effort to reduce pollution and congestion, conserve energy and increase the efficiency and productivity of employees.
This article highlights a number of statistics that confirm the growing popularity of telecommuting, including:

  • From 1995-2001 telecommuting grew from a negligible number to 10.4 million people;
  • 44 percent of U.S. companies offered employees telecommuting options in 2005, a 32 percent increase from 2001; and
  • One in four employers is expected to offer telecommuting or compressed work schedules to employees for the first time in the next six months.

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Now More Cost-Saver Than Benefit

April 1st, 2003 in Small Office Home Office    No Comments

About a third of IBM’s workforce is “mobile” — the company saves about $10,000 per year per employee on facilities costs alone. That’s a calculation every firm is making now before letting staff work from home, say experts quoted here. IBM, says Pamela Stanford, director of the company’s on-demand workplace initiative, has worked hard to develop an environment conducive to mobile workers. Back in 1993, when their first telecommuters started, they were pioneers. Their joke was that IBM stood for “I’m By Myself.” Now each mobile worker gets a ThinkPad, a highspeed Internet connection and a second phone line for business calls, and workers say they enjoy the autonomy and scheduling flexibility. When someone in Dallas has to call a client in Europe or Australia, they can get up at 3 a.m. and walk over to the computer rather than driving to the office. “The people who consider it a perk, and are concerned about not seeing people in the workplace,” says Stafford, “come from command and control cultures. Command and control doesn’t cut it anymore. This kind of mobility is just right for us.”

Source: Work & Family Newsbrief; April, 2003