Remote Working - Remote Control

People are changing. Work is changing. As we approach the new millennium, the cliched nine to five is looking like an increasingly endangered species.

Why waste time traipsing into town during rush-hour when you could work at home? Why work at home when you could work on a beach - in a foreign country? Many workers are realising that they could do some, or even all, of their work elsewhere.

Technology is, of course, the great enabler, but what's involved in setting up a home office? Does the purchase of a notebook make you an effective mobile worker? And what about where you intend to do your work?

In this feature we'll be looking at the issues involved in setting up a home, remote or mobile office for either part or full-time use. We will also review the technology that will allow you to realise this dream.

Office equipment and general facilities are the last things most remote workers think of. Well, think again. If you're serious about spending a lot or even all of the time working from home, you'll quickly begin to miss the office facilities you always took for granted. Good ergonomics are also essential. You should have a decent chair and desk, and make sure you're not straining anything - eyes, wrists or otherwise.

Remember, you're not just accommodating a PC. You've also got to find room for a desk, chair, office equipment and plenty of storage for all those unexpected materials. In the future, we may all laugh at the futility of the paperless home.

If you've not gone entirely freelance, ask your employer about contributions for setting up at home. Remember you're doing them a favour by becoming more productive and saving them office costs, so it's not unreasonable to ask them for compensations in return for your sacrifices.

- Setting up a remote/home office

Your most obvious necessity is a PC of some description, although be aware that this single machine could be responsible for your livelihood.

If it breaks, you can't work. While the software we've tested allows MIS (Management Information Systems) staff to remotely reconfigure your system, it's of no use if your PC won't power-up.

Backup is essential, both in terms of a second machine and of course your vital data. If you've been sensible enough to fit a backup device, make sure you remove the media. After all, fire, flood or theft are unlikely to remove the tape and leave it in a safe place. Speaking of which, you'd better make sure you're insured for this, too.

Second most obvious are your communications. These are absolutely crucial, because if you are unable to receive requests for work or deliver it, you've had it. Posting floppies might work for the most basic requirements, but it's hardly the height of sophistication - plus you'll need stamps and a nearby letterbox.

In the August 1999 issue of PCW we looked in depth at communications technologies, so we'll be brief here. One phone line is of course essential, but again, if this office is to be your main one, you'll quickly hanker after another.

Who wants to be unobtainable to phone calls when sending email or browsing the web? Who wants to admit that they have to hang up this voice call and reconfigure their lines before being able to receive a fax? A second line also allows you to more easily separate business and personal charges, which can be a real boon when it comes to claiming expenses or filling out a tax return.

Speak to any remote or mobile worker and the one technology they'll always curse is their communications system - it's never fast enough. If you've worked for a large company, you'll miss fast and free access to the internet.

If you're relying on a single 56K modem, you'd better be prepared to wait for files to transfer. You'll also become painfully aware of the wasted bandwidth occupied by pointless email jokes and chain letters, not to mention huge attachments that are sent without consideration of their size.

One final word: make sure your ISP is reliable, and available when you want to use it. You may have to dump your free account, but remember, this is your livelihood.

- Setting up a mobile office

A notebook or handheld PDA is the minimum required for a mobile office.

The same backup and insurance applies even more so, as a portable is particularly susceptible to theft or breakages.

Remember you're on battery power, so learn how to make the most of any power-saving utilities. Particularly vigilant users may want to download Intel's Power Monitor to check up on which background Windows utilities are the hungriest - you may get some surprises. Either way, make sure you're fully charged and that you're carrying spares where possible.

Communications in fixed environments are similar to those for desktop PCs. Almost all portables can connect to modems of some description, and often to ISDN too. The predominant interface is the PC Card, although an increasing number of portables (albeit mostly PDAs) are being fitted with built-in modems. It's worth checking a built-in modem's capabilities, as many older PDAs only operate at 19.2Kbit/sec. It goes without saying that anyone wanting to connect a modem to a foreign landline should carry a selection of adaptors.

Portables really come into their own with mobile communications, for which you'll of course need a mobile phone. In the old days, you'd need a PC Card interface for your mobile, but modern models often come with built-in data capabilities.

Look out for Ericsson's SH888 and Nokia's 8810 mobiles, both of which boast built-in data facilities and IRDA-compliant infra-red ports for wireless connection with your notebook or PDA. Note that Nokia's popular 6110 (aka NK702 for Orange) does feature infra-red, but no data hardware - for wireless operation you'll need to install Nokia's Cellular Data Suite, available only for Windows 95/98 notebooks but, sadly, not for PDAs.

Bear in mind that today's GSM data rates are limited to a mere 9.6Kbit/sec, although this is sufficient for basic email. Mobile data is set to increase dramatically over the next two years, eventually maturing into 2Mbit/sec rates (News Analysis, PCW September 1999). The first enhancement is expected from Orange this September, which aims to launch a 28.8Kbit/sec data service for new phones.

Incidentally, a GSM mobile employs a digital connection which, like ISDN but unlike an analog modem, can negotiate a link almost instantly. Some ISPs offer specific access numbers for mobiles, such as Demon for Orange.

Mobiles also often work out cheaper overall for data calls than hotel phones.

If you intend to use your phone abroad, talk to your operator about roaming agreements. Remember there are currently many more 900MHz GSM networks worldwide than 1,800MHz ones, and that North America employs GSM frequencies of 1,900MHz.

World mobile travellers should seriously consider buying a dual - or even triple-band phone. Our top tip for mobile upgraders is to wait for Nokia's forthcoming 7110 dual-band mobile with WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Microbrowser and built-in infra-red data hardware.

- Whose file is it anyway?

So you've bought the required equipment to break free from the office; now, how do you do it? The biggest issue beyond slow or unreliable communications, is making sure that you've got the required information, and that it's up to date.

If you find yourself regularly working between two systems, it's crucial that both can access the other's data, and that it be synchronised. It's no good having two different files or schedules with the same name - which one is correct?

Clearly, it's vital that the systems attempting to remain synchronised are both speaking the same time and date; bear this in mind when travelling too, and use a visiting time-zone setting, rather than resetting the clock which stamps your files. If your clocks are correct, then there's nothing stopping you simply comparing files by hand to verify which is the most recent.

Document and email folders can happily be copied wholesale from one system to another as you travel between locations. It may be low-tech, but you can fit a lot of messages on a floppy and a lot of documents on a ZIP or JAZ cartridge.

If removable media isn't suitable, then consider a direct cable connection (DCC). Windows 98's DCC supports file transfer over serial and parallel, but not USB connections. Windows 98 also supports infra-red file transfer between IR-equipped devices. Applications such as Office 2000 are becoming increasingly savvy to shared documents or areas where files can be stored, ready for pickup by another system.

Finally, if you don't mind downloading messages twice, you could set one of your system's email clients to leave a copy of the messages on your ISP's server so they're still available when your other system accesses them.

PDAs are becoming increasingly powerful, but almost all expect to be connected to a host PC. Consequently, the more sophisticated models - such as the Psion Series 5, those using Windows CE and the 3Com Palm - all boast effective document, email and schedule synchronisation tools.

All three will happily chat with your PC and swap information, so that both machines are up-to-date. Bear in mind that most PDAs prefer to compare notes with fully-fledged PC Personal Information Managers such as Schedule+ and Outlook, and won't want to speak with small email clients such as Outlook Express and Netscape Mail.

MOBILE LOCATIONS

Consider the additional complications of a mobile location for notebook and PDA users. Obviously, the issues concerning power, communication and facilities completely change. You'll be lucky to find a power socket for your notebook, and plugging your modem into a phone line will be impossible.

You'll be forced to send any emails or files via your mobile phone and just pray that your batteries last the course. But there's more besides.

Perhaps you'd like to go outside? Apart from the fact that almost all notebook and PDA displays as good as disappear in direct sunlight, you'll also suddenly discover the numerous distractions. With dogs and children running around, the park or the local cafe are suddenly transformed into a canine and nursery hell.

When you're on the move, trains and planes seem quite reasonable places to work until you've actually tried. The former usually rattle around so much you can't type, hand-write or even hear yourself speak on the phone. The latter are, conversely, so quiet you'll have fellow passengers attempting to escape your incessant tapping by jumping out at 30,000 feet.

Also remember your particularly cramped space.

Modern office workers often complain that there's never enough meeting rooms, but when you've moved out, there's none at all. The remote or mobile worker may find themselves attempting to conduct serious meetings in the aforementioned locations.

Better bets are relaxed restaurants or even hotel lobbies. Sadly, the ones which seem most tolerable to such visitors tend to be located in the very city centres you're trying so hard to avoid. You may be better off meeting clients at their offices - this saves them any hassle, and of course gets you out of the house.

REMOTE ACCESS PACKAGES

Notebooks running full Windows operating systems may as well be desktop PCs in terms of built-in synchronisation tools. They'll work with DCC and the various sharing systems described in the main text, but for more sophisticated exchanges you'll need to invest in some dedicated software.

We looked at Traveling Software's LapLink Professional, Symantec's pcANYWHERE 9.0, and Stac Reachout Enterprise 8, all tested under Windows 98 but also available for 95, NT and 3.1/DOS. All offer remarkably similar remote access and file transfer facilities, but with a slight bias towards different users. We'll mention shared features and pick out where each differs.

pcANYWHERE's 'Remote Control' allows you to see another PC's desktop in a window on your very own screen. You can operate the remote PC as if you were there, exploring drives and network connections, launching applications, printing pages and changing settings. The PC being controlled shows the pointer moving around and characters being typed as if by a phantom presence - spooky. The remote desktop can be scaled to fit your window and displayed in a reduced number of colours, with wallpaper disabled for better performance. Even at 14.4Kbit/sec, Remote Control still felt quite responsive, which is reassuring for mobile phone users.

Clearly, Remote Control is great for checking or acquiring data you forgot to bring with you, and is equally useful for MIS departments to diagnose and directly fix problems. It's also obvious that some level of security is in order. LapLink, pcANYWHERE and Reachout all offer varying levels of access to a defined list of users, and can also force a hangup and modem callback to listed numbers only for added security. Access is via cable, direct modem (or ISDN), IR (where supported) or a variety of network protocols including TCP/IP. TCP/IP requires you to know the IP address of the target machine, although those which employ dynamic allocation (DHCP) are able to use dedicated WINS servers.

File transfer is as easy as drag-and-drop in a Windows Explorer style environment, with the host PC in one pane and the guest alongside. However, you can't open a remote document within an application before transferring it to your local PC, and while the drag-and-drop is simple, you can only perform it using the software's own tools: you can't drag a file from the remote window directly onto your local desktop, for example, but you can copy a remote item into the local clipboard. Each package offers various wizards to synchronise files in pairs of folders, which is a great way of keeping, say, your email inbox and current working documents folders up to date.

Of course, sometimes files change only slightly: you may have a 100-page document with a single word changed, or an image retouched in one corner only. Transferring the entire file again is obviously a waste of bandwidth, so fortunately all three packages recognise any changes and only send the differences. We verified this by observing shorter update times when slightly modifying Word documents, bitmap files and even multi-layered Photoshop 5 images. All three packages also automatically compress files for better performance.

Differences between the packages are subtle. On the supplied cable front, pcANYWHERE comes with a 25 to 25 pin serial, LapLink is accompanied by 9 to 9/25 pin serial, while meanie Reachout features none. Cables are cheap though, so don't make a buying decision based on this. However, LapLink is currently the only one to support an optional USB cable for a 12Mbit/sec connection between Windows 98 systems (£25).

Presentation is slightly different between the packages. LapLink, with its large, friendly icons, is the most consumer-looking offering, while pcANYWHERE and Reachout's graphics will appeal to the small business or corporate users. With USB support, LapLink offers the most comprehensive file transfer options, while Reachout markets itself to 'centrally-managed corporate remote control', and pcANYWHERE sits somewhere between the two.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that LapLink and pcANYWHERE are also available in Windows CE versions, the former as a free 3.5Mb download to registered LapLink Pro users, and the latter as host or remote flavours for £79 and £39 respectively. We were unable to get hold of pcANYWHERE CE, and LapLink CE inexplicably failed to run on our HP Jornada 680.

Finding a winner is hard, as all three packages do essentially the same thing and there's no difference in cost. Ultimately it boils down to which interface you prefer. pcANYWHERE certainly looks the smartest, but with optional support for both USB connection and a free Windows CE version, LapLink Professional fractionally nudges ahead to win Editor's Choice.

PCW DETAILS

Reachout Enterprise 8

Price £175.08 (£149 ex VAT) (two licences)

Contact Stac 01344 302900 www.stac.com

GREAT BUY

pcANYWHERE 9.0

Price £169.20 (£144 ex VAT) (two licences).

Upgrade £66.98 (£57 ex VAT)

Contact Symantec 0171 616 5600 www.symantec.co.uk

GREAT BUY

LapLink Professional

Price £176.19 (£149.95 ex VAT) (two licences)

Contact Traveling Software 0800 374849 www.laplink.com

Intel Power Monitor http://channel.intel.com/mobile/tech forum/sw.htm

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.