The New 3D Equation- “Delivering” Services + Saving “Dollars”= “Digital” Employees AESA Annual Conference December 6, 2008

Telework is a broad term, referring to substituting telecommunications for any form of work-related travel, thereby eliminating time and distance restrictions.

Long distance telework is facilitated by such tools as virtual private networks, videoconferencing, and virtual private networksvideoconferencing Voice over IPVoice over IP. It can be efficient and useful for companies as it allows staff and workers to communicate over a large distance, saving significant amounts of travel time and cost.

1980 $.37/mile= $ hours of $30/hr= $ “Getting to the Meeting” cost- $ A recent F-T-F meeting in Great Prairie AEA:

people 16 from other offices

Today, upwards of 12 million employees telework more than 8 hours per week, up from about 6 million in 2000, according to Gartner Dataquest. The number will hit nearly 14 million by Caroline Smith, an analyst for Gartner who expects the number to continue to grow, says the rate of increase has been steady for a number of years even though telecommuting hasn't been getting a lot of publicity in recent years.

A survey of 212 IT managers and CIOs in a wide range of industries by CompTIA research tells the telecommuting tale:

--The majority of respondents (78%) report that some employees within their organizations telecommute, at least part-time. --Most organizations don’t have a high percentage of full-time telecommuting employees. Most organizations (82%) say that less than 25% of employees telecommute full-time. --Workers in IT management (41%), field technical support (37%), and administration (35%) most commonly telecommute (part-time or full-time). --Top benefits of telecommuting to organizations include improved productivity (67%), cost savings (59%), access to more qualified staff (39%), employee retention (37%), and improved employee health (25%).

--Significant challenges of telecommuting to organizations include securing corporate information systems (53%), limiting use of unauthorized and unsupported devices (38%), and controlling personal use of corporate mobile assets (33%). --To meet challenges of telecommuting, IT departments have tackled issues such as upgrades in network circuits and VPN equipment, expanded security, training, and implementation of new virtualization technologies and applications. Telework Toolkit

The “non-negotiables” Laptop computer Internet Access Sufficient Bandwidth- Broadband- 768 kbs Peripherals- Hardware and Software

VPN Remote Desktop Instant Messenger Voice Conferencing Teleconferencing Videoconferencing Office/Print Services Google docs Dropbox

VPN - secure communications through the public Internet. Uses- access servers or other resources from outside the network

Demonstration- VPN

Remote Desktop- access your desktop computer from any internet-connected computer Uses- leave your computer at work, work from where you are! - desktop support Remote desktop applications Bob’s pick- GoToMyPCGoToMyPC

Demonstration- Remote Desktop

Instant Messenger real-time text-based communication between two or more participants over the internet or some form of internal network/intranet. AOL Instant Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Google Talk Apple iChat Spark Trillian Pidgin

Demonstration- Instant Messenger

Voice conferencing- (Conference calls) Reservationless! FreeConference.com Bob’s pick: Iowa Communications Network- Reservationless ConferencingReservationless Conferencing Voice applications- Free VoIP telephone service- SKYPE SKYPE

Demonstration- Voice Conferencing

Teleconferencing Communicate Share documents Make presentations Demonstrate products and services Collaborate VoIP Video “Web meeting”

Teleconferencing PowWowNow (free)PowWowNow Webex Adobe Connect Pro GoToMeeting

Demonstration- Teleconferencing

Videoconferencing a live conversation is needed; visual information is an important component of the conversation; the parties of the conversation can't physically come to the same location; the expense or time of travel is a consideration.

Videoconferencing Complexity of systems Most users are not technical and want a simple interface Perceived lack of interoperability Bandwidth and quality of service Expense of commercial systems

Videoconferencing Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) Room units Desktop units Recording and Streaming

Desktop Videoconferencing ooVoo (6) Mebean (16) xMeeting (Mac) Bob’s choice –Polycom PVXPolycom PVX

Demonstration- Desktop Videoconferencing

Remote documents Google docs Google docs in Plain English Dropbox –Store, sync, and share files online Office/Print services –FedEx OfficeFedEx Office

Demonstration- Remote Documents

Telework Intended to be a “snapshot”- not all-inclusive! Podcast –Telework Rises as Gas Gets ScarcePodcast Telework - as Good as Cash?Telework

Thank You! Contact information: Bob Steingreaber Coordinator, Instructional Resources Great Prairie Area Education Agency 2814 N Court Ottumwa, Iowa