Plans for telecommuting week, "Telecommute America!" announced

June 28, 1995 -- WASHINGTON -- The first nationwide program to accelerate
telecommuting and other nontraditional work arrangements will culminate in
a week-long, coast-to-coast event in the fall, organizers said at a news
conference today at the National Press Club.

"Telecommute America! Discover a New Workplace" is a joint effort of
government, nonprofit and corporate entities aimed at encouraging U.S.
workers and employers to try telework alternatives the week of Oct. 23
through 27, 1995.

Prior to today's announcement, Vice President Al Gore noted, "Telecommute
America! will provide an important opportunity for American businesses and
workers to learn about and experience the benefits of the communications
revolution."

The traditional office model is undergoing a `90s-style facelift, as
corporations, small businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals respond to
workplace issues such as improving the environment, decreasing overhead
costs, increasing productivity, balancing work and personal lives and even
preparing for disaster recovery. The program will highlight these five
alternative work styles during the Telecommute America! week in October:

Home-based telecommuters -- Employees or independent contractors who work
from home during business hours one or more days a week, using a
combination of computing and communications technology to stay productive
and connected to their office and clients;

Work-at-home entrepreneurs -- Self-employed individuals who operate a
business from their home utilizing computing and communications technology
to enhance their productivity;

Remote call center agents -- Employees who can receive and handle customer
calls from home-based offices instead of corporate-center locations;

Virtual offices -- Which allow business people to be equipped with portable
computers and communications devices to travel and work anywhere, anytime;
and

Telework centers and satellite offices -- Which allow people who work in
locations closer to home, giving them much shorter commutes.

The Telecommute America! founding members include the Association for
Commuter Transportation, AT&T, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. General Services
Administration, joined by Mobile Office magazine and Steles Inc. The
program has been endorsed by the Environmental Defense Fund, Families and
Work Institute, Institute for the Study of Distributed Work, National
Association of Women Business Owners, New Ways to Work, Renew America and
Telecommuting Advisory Council.

To acquaint the workforce with these new approaches, the organizers will
distribute free "how-to-participate" brochures, present educational
seminars and exhibits in 19 cities, offer a comprehensive telework guide
and provide information via a toll-free phone number, 1-800-TELEWEEK
(1-800-835-3933).

And, beginning July 5, Telecommute America! will also have a World Wide Web
site (http://www.att.com/Telecommute_America), which will offer resources
for telecommuters, information that can be downloaded, a news and
discussion group, and off-site links to other useful telecommuting,
home-office and virtual-office information.

People who call the 800 number or visit the Web site can take part in a
nationwide telework survey and be represented in results to be announced
during Telecommute America! week. "This will be the largest research
survey poll ever done on telecommuting and telework," said Tom Miller,
vice president, FIND/SVP, a national research company in New York.

Miller said there were more than 9 million people who telecommuted in 1994,
up 20 percent from 1993, including 6.6 million employees who telecommuted
and 2.6 million contract workers. An additional 14.2 million people
operated small businesses from their homes. But these numbers are far
below experts' estimates for the potential telecommuting population.
"About 40 percent of today's workers could be telecommuting at least part
of the time, but less than 10 percent are doing so," said Jack Nilles, who
coined the term, "telecommuting," and has written two books on the
subject.
 
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