Telework: The Frontier of Dependent Work

1. Telework: The Frontier of Dependent Work

2. We talk about teleworking when you carry out your work at a displaced office through the use of IT tools. The home of teleworking can be a private home, the office of an external client or any other place where the necessary equipment is present. Due to its characteristics, teleworking is particularly suited to clerical work.

3. Teleworking is regulated by a series of agreements between the social partners, according to which the maintenance of the technical equipment is the responsibility of the employer, while the employee is obliged to carry out his work with seriousness and precision, respecting office hours and promptly communicating the breakdowns or malfunctions of the vehicles used.

4. Teleworking needs the new generation of communication tools: without PDAs, cell phones, laptops, web platforms, intranets, and email boxes, teleworking could not exist.

5. The VoIP phone system as a Telecommuting Instrument and a Switchboard • Among the most innovative solutions for teleworking, there is VoIP service, a type of telephony that travels on an ADSL line and which is in no way connected to traditional telephone lines. • For example, a virtual switchboard that allows you to network and manage several company telephone extensions in a very simple way. The numbers, once configured, work wherever there is an ADSL line. If an employee has his own telephone number on which he receives communications from colleagues or external customers, he can configure the VoIP telephone and take it wherever he wants: to another office, at home, even abroad.

6. The VoIP phone system is much more advantageous and versatile than other types of telephony, including the cabinet. Even equipping all employees with a company mobile phone, you would not have the same services as a virtual switchboard (answering machine via email, fax, call transfer to other telephone extensions, etc.) and you would not pay such low amounts as those of the telephone rates of VOIP calls to the outside.

7. The virtual switchboard is particularly suited to the needs of teleworking. The switchboard, in fact, allows you to configure and manage several telephone extensions (from five upwards) from a control panel. If an employee needs to work from home, he can use his VoIP service and connect it to another ADSL line, taking along an indispensable work tool such as a telephone.

8. Internet and the web for teleworking • Besides VoIP phone system, the Internet is also important because it allows you to archive documents in cloud storage mode, making them downloadable, file-able, and accessible from any location. Furthermore, company intranets or internal management systems allow you to participate in company life even remotely and with the same results as when you are physically present in the company.

9. Summary: The consensus around the work-from-home form of work is growing. Year after year, in fact, the positive evaluations by sociologists and psychologists increase, who have now clarified the role of teleworking in increasing productivity. After the COVID-19 pandemic attack, work-from-home became the most desired form of working. Of course, this must not result in a wild relocation of work, but it can represent an opportunity - and therefore also a challenge - for companies looking for solutions to change and improve the world of work.