Telecommuting does more than enable employees to work remotely, a...
Telecommuting does more than enable employees to work remotely, a Verizon official told a subcommittee of the House Govt. Reform Committee Tues. It’s a way for govt. agencies to keep working in disasters or national security emergencies, Verizon Federal…
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Pres. Jerry Edgerton said: “It doesn’t take a major… emergency to displace thousands of workers, as several straight days of rain showed us last month,” he told the subcommittee during a hearing on telecommuting. “Through the evolution of traditional communications services, wireless communications and advanced applications, the definition of ’teleworking’ is rapidly broadening,” said Edgerton. Workers can train, handle citizens’ calls, and “interact” with colleagues, all via the Internet, he said. “A successful teleworking program is one in which remote working looks no different than time spent in the office,” Edgerton said. “Undoubtedly barriers remain that prevent agencies from fully reaping the benefits of telecommuting [but] technology is not one of those barriers,” he said. The keys are “security, reliability and agency endorsement,” Edgerton said. The panel should monitor agencies’ teleworking efforts, which boost productivity, help the environment by reducing traffic, permit hiring of the disabled, keep workers who otherwise might leave and offers continuity in crisis, he said: “When savings on office space and utilities are factored in, I would contend that the cost to agencies is negligible.”