Home workers often benefit most from saving time and money on unnecessary travel, and are able to concentrate better by being on their own. Remote workers might be required to travel abroad or to other locations, but need to keep in close contact with their own office, and have instant access to its IT system at all times. This has been possible due to remote access services, which enable a company’s network to be accessed, so that files can be viewed, amended, and either down or up-loaded. However, the one draw-back has been the bandwidth, or space available for running software and live data over a phone line.

Recently, software developers have started to design applications based on Internet browser technology, which provides worldwide mobile access to data in a fast, efficient way, through a phone line. The London-based developer, Eurosoft Systems Ltd (ESL), is one example, and their product, EventMan, not only allows employees of the ‘user company’ to access data from the central system, but also its suppliers and customers.

EventMan is a workflow management solution, which controls the everyday planning, events, and procedures of a company. Any party involved in that workflow process, whether it be a supervisor who is out in the field, but needs to sign off a daily report, or a foreign supplier who needs a purchase order number so that goods can be shipped, can access EventMan from their own location. There is no need for the remote party to have the software or any data related to EventMan as all the data and the application are held on a central web server. As long as they have a PC or Mac with an Internet browser, they will be put in contact with the system when they call in.

ESL is one of many software developers working on links to WAP technology, so that users can interact with live data on the internet from a mobile phone. This would enable work items to be signed off remotely using a WAP-enabled mobile phone, if they are unable to get access to a computer. SMS text messages can currently be generated and sent to standard GSM phones as bulletins, but the WAP technology will allow two way interaction with live web data.

As a result of these technological advancements, the idea of being able to work ‘anytime, any place, anywhere’ will become reality, and for many of us, this will make our working lives simpler, without us being any less efficient.

This article was first featured in the Business Toolkit June Newsletter 2000.