Broadband push could increase telecommuting (Office, how to, work, ISP)

[Grizzmeister]

In my humble opinion increased options for telecommuting are always a good idea. Here’s a link to an interesting snippet.

In the Obama administration broadband proliferation is expected to have a higher priority than ever before. You can already see the results of that focus by looking at the price of Verizon stock. Even though the rest of the economy is collapsing Verizon stock is doing quite well thanks to their extremely progressive Fios ultra high-speed Internet offering. I hold a substantial amount of VZ stock and I’m extremely satisfied as it even pays a healthy dividend.

[Bo]

IMHO, it's not a lack of broadband connectivity which limits telecommuting, it's employer perception that employees won't put in a full workday if allowed to do it from home.

[Grizzmeister]

Originally Posted by Bowie

IMHO, it's not a lack of broadband connectivity which limits telecommuting, it's employer perception that employees won't put in a full workday if allowed to do it from home.

Yes you’re absolutely correct. Some companies don’t know how to properly manage employees when they’re all under the same roof let alone when they’re telecommuting. Oddly enough those same companies hold little reservation in turning over some of their workload to foreign nationals in strange far away places like Bangalore India. Hopefully the tax incentive route will work in keeping jobs in the US but with the added benefit of allowing some employees to work remotely.

[grannynancy]

I telecommute and as more and more people do it people see the productivity and embrace it.

Unfortunatly there are those who see it as an opportunity to "work from the park while their kids are playing" etc. And it can cause problems for those who realize what a gift it is [my daily commute is 1 minute and costs a cup of coffee]

With a dedicated home office and self-enforcing office hours most folks I work with find it to be more efficient. We still need face to face meetings for some projects, even with all the gotcha gizmos out there.

Another problem when you have ISP service issues is at a physical job location it is a 5 - alarm emergency to get the system back up. To the ISP you are just another kid on my space and the fact that the computer is your livelihood is not significant to them. [I guess I could get a business plan but I use less bandwidth than the typical teenager]