Companies considering a virtual office can now include a four-digit-dial plan (intra-office direct dial from any location), a supported multi-line speakerphone on the desk, a computer and printer, a fax mailbox on the corporate office server connected by a broadband computer WAN (wide area network) circuit. As long as the telecommuter can control all the environmental factors of their household (noise, distractions, etc.), no one is the wiser. Telecommuting is a popular solution on days when solitude is desirable: a lot of conference calls, preparation for a presentation or meeting, or simply researching. Desktop video conferencing is gaining in popularity in home offices because costs are coming down. Generally, even if the tycoon in question’s computer crashes or the server back at the office goes down, no big deal, everything is duplicated on both ends of the equation. If the at-home system telephone’s dedicated circuit gets disconnected, merely use the home phone line and dial ten digits instead of four. Employees and customers are still none the wiser and no data is lost.
If all this were free, all home-based businesses would simply duplicate the large company model on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, duplicating the multiple redundancies (many telephone lines, additional computers and hard disk drives, printers, backup systems, processors, etc.) that big businesses enjoy, can get expensive. For example, three or more telephone lines require a more sophisticated phone system than those generally used in homes. In older homes, this could mean special wiring. For the moment, a broadband connection is expensive, and while it will connect you to the Internet, it isn’t going to connect to a server. A file server is a must if you want the economy of sharing software and hardware. In the short, setting up a file server means incurring additional expenses. On the other hand, if you choose not to run a file server in your home, then you’ll need to consider the costs associated with acquiring several stand-alone desktop workstations; several licenses for the same software, multiple printers, and multiple ramps to the Internet, if you need them.

In some case, companies don’t utilize the telecommuting option because management may view it as too expensive. In other cases, management may not what to grant employees such a great degree of autonomy. Nevertheless, telecommuting is a popular option for days when solitude is desired for preparing a presentation doing research or other tasks free from office distractions.

In the final analysis, the ultimate cost of installing the infrastructure for a home or virtual office will vary depending upon your specific needs. Once the investment is made, imagine how nice it could be to get to work without having to concern yourself with an “an-up-to-the-minute” traffic report.