There are many good reasons for this. For one thing, it saves fuel. For another, it saves time and money for both employer and employee.

One thing making telecommuting easier is cloud computing. It involves several computers connected though the Internet or an Intranet. Together, they can reach out and retrieve data processed elsewhere. Now you can even add business voice service to the cloud through Voice over Internet Protocol, or “VoIP.” Essentially, the phone system works over the Internet rather than over traditional phone lines.

That means workers can be at home or on the road but appear to customers to be sitting in company headquarters.

One system that serves nearly 15,000 small businesses, many with multiple locations to be tied together via the Internet and their phone system, offers such features as:

• Business communications that can be provisioned quickly and grow as you grow
• The ability to let workers plug in and get working nearly anywhere they have a broadband connection
• Auto call attendant
• Music and messages on hold
• Call forwarding and follow me
• Different greetings according to the time of day and the day of week
• A dashboard that keeps track of real-time status of workers
• Extension-to-extension, click-to-call functionality
• Companywide directory
• Outlook integration
• Mobile command and control through iPhone and Android devices.

All that because the company, Vocalocity, specializes in bringing remote office workers together for virtual collaboration.

As one customer expressed it, “I unpacked the box, assembled the phones, plugged them in and they worked. It was a very simple process. With our headquarters being 3,000 miles away and having to travel a lot, I needed a phone system that worked and that I could count on having no troubles with. Vocalocity eliminated the need for any IT support in my company.”

Another, describing how handy the system was when an ice storm shut down his city for a week, said, “We forwarded all phones to our home the night before and remoted in with the computers. We might as well all have been in the office for the whole week.”

The storm had left many workers stranded at home and forced many businesses to lose a distressing week of work, sales, profits and production. Roads became ice-skating rinks and driveways became sledding terrains. Public transportation, the post office, schools and donation centers all closed. Gas ran short, as did supplies at grocery stores and city hospitals.

A poll of the people in the community who had the telecommuting system in place, however, found that 92 percent were at full functionality and no one could tell that they were not in the office.

Free Information and Advice
You can learn more and get a free quote at http://www.vocalocity.com.

Almost everyone knows that you need a business plan, but one of the most difficult questions to answer when developing that business plan is how much start-up costs will be. There are so many factors to consider, including business licenses and incorporation fees, patents and trademarks, business insurance, leases for an office or production facilities, and many more.

So many, in fact, that it is almost impossible to accurately calculate business start-up costs. Even adding a new location to an existing business can produce wildly different start-up costs when compared to the original start-up experience.

So is it useless to plan? Not exactly, says Theodore Bolema, a professor at South University’s Novi, Mich. campus and director of the business program. Bolema, who holds a Ph.D. in business as well as a law degree, says planning is important – but so is being realistic about the accuracy of your forecast.

“A decent rule of thumb is to figure out what you think your costs will be. Then double it,” Bolema says.

There is a good reason that it is nearly impossible to accurately predict these costs, according to Bolema. “Determining fees, equipment purchases, inventory and the like is relatively easy for most businesses. What’s much more difficult is knowing what your cost of time will be.”

The “cost of time” is an important concept for all businesses, but especially for start-ups. If a business is obligated to pay an office lease or employee salaries while it is not yet able to do business – or a regulatory agency is holding up its ability to do business – then start-up costs will add up quickly.

And don’t expect government agencies to operate with your costs in mind. Even the best-run agency will not move with the same urgency you would like, Bolema says. After all, it may be your lifelong dream and your life’s savings at risk, but to them, you are just another file folder stacked on the desk.

So while you are waiting for an agency to act, or a supplier to supply, or an advertising firm to get that mailer in your customers’ mailboxes, you’ll be paying building leases, business loan payments, utility bills, payroll and all the rest – all without any revenue to offset those expenses.

It can be frustrating, but it certainly will be less frustrating if you build a business plan realistically and raise capital accordingly.

“It’s better to tie up capital in a cash reserve than to have an inadequately funded business plan,” says Bolema.

As in life, there is plenty of uncertainty in business. So hope for the best and plan sensibly, including how long things will take, not just how much they will cost.

Introduced by Tanner Research, ClearSync’s app is now available for download in the Android market and makes calendar sharing simple.

“ClearSync has the most flexible calendar sharing model in the mobile calendaring space,” says John Tanner, chief executive officer of both ClearSync and Tanner Research. “There is nothing in the app world that handles multiple-calendar events the way ClearSync does. ClearSync allows users to share across multiple Outlook, Google and ClearSync calendars, and a change anywhere is propagated everywhere.”

The app is ideal for busy individuals, families, small businesses and organizations — and enables users to juggle all aspects of life including professional, social, church, charity work, school and children’s activities via its unlimited color-coded calendars and contacts categories.

The ClearSync app offers five levels of service:

Free: Ideal for simple sharing, offers one sharing group, two members of groups, sync with Google, forum tech support and a free trial for sync with Microsoft Outlook. This app is supported by occasional advertising popups.

Individual: Allows greater sharing with four people and everything included in the free application. This app sells for $4.99 and has no advertising.

Outlook: Ideal for someone who wants simply to connect their Outlook Calendar data to their phone. Includes all the features of the Individual App, plus allows the user to sync with an unlimited number of Outlook calendars and installations for $9.95/year.

Silver:  Perfect for families, small organizations and offices, offers unlimited sharing groups and members of groups, email tech support, text messaging, and sync with Google and Microsoft Outlook for $19.95/year.

Gold: Designed for power users, midsize companies and professionals, offers encrypted communications, unlimited sharing groups, members of groups, phone technical support, text messaging, sync with Google and Microsoft Outlook for $59.95/year.

Advantages of ClearSync for Android:

• Keep contact information and calendar data safe. Because ClearSync’s data is “mirrored in the cloud,” the information is stored via the web. If users accidentally drop their phone into the pool, the calendar and contacts are protected

• Make appointments quickly with the integrated contacts manager that creates events with contact data preloaded

• Synchronize ClearSync calendars and contacts on your PC and/or laptop

• Link or embed calendars to websites

• Publish a web widget for calendar events to keep a group’s website up-to-date automatically

In conjunction with the launch of the calendar app, ClearSync announces the “Win a Motorola Zoom” sweepstakes, giving Facebook fans the chance to win a Motorola Zoom, a Samsung Galaxy and other prizes. Starting Nov. 1, consumers are able to enter for a chance to win a Motorola Zoom by “liking” the ClearSync Facebook page and filling out the basic entry form. For additional information, visit http://www.facebook.com/ClearSync.

ClearSync’s app is available for all Android (Google) phones v.2.2 and higher, including the HTC Amaze and the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic. It also works on tablets running Android 3.0 and higher, such as the Motorola XOOM™. Android users can download the free ClearSync app by going to http://www.clearsync.com/home/android or by visiting the Android Market on their smartphone and searching for ClearSync. While the ClearSync phone app currently only works on the Android platform, ClearSync calendars can be viewed in any standard, contemporary, phone browsers including iPhone, BlackBerry, and Windows 7 and 8.

Now compatible with Outlook 2010, Single Click Filing is a clever new email organizer add-in that allows Outlook users to file their email with complete ease. The application is available on a 14-day free trial and is available for purchase for just $9.95.

About Single Click Filing
Single Click Filing was born out of the recognition that most Outlook users, for most of their messages, primarily use a handful of folders and Outlook lacks the basic functionality to make email filing quick and easy. Single Click Filing allows the user to easily define up to 10 folders and create a filing button for each folder on the Outlook toolbar. The ability to use the Backspace key to file to the most frequently used folder adds to the ease of use. The net result of using Single Click Filing is increased efficiency and ease of email filing resulting in greater control over the inbox

New features:

• Configure Backspace Key to easily file messages into your most frequently used filing folder – makes it easier to keep your Inbox uncluttered

• Compatible with Outlook 2010

• A new button ‘Any Folder’ (Alt+Z) has been added to allow filing into any Outlook folder.

• Folder tree displays the list of Most Recently Used filing folders for quick access.

Download today and try for free for 14 days:
http://www.singleclickfiling.com/download.php

For a look at what’s new in v1.2:
http://www.singleclickfiling.com/whatsnew.php

About Caelo Software B.V.
Caelo Software B.V. (pronounced Kay-lo) is dedicated to developing software productivity solutions to help people cope with “email overload”. Visit http://www.singleclickfiling.com for more information.

Any time of year can be the right time to take a self-inventory and identify changes we would like to make.

For some, it’s embracing a healthier diet; for others, it’s a new workout routine or balancing their checkbook. The good news is that with the latest smartphone technology, chances are there really is an app for that—and possibly even on a 4G system.

Since 4G can be up to 10 times faster than 3G, the apps that really take advantage of 4G capability include those that are data intensive, such as video chat, live streaming video, and music and gaming.

Here are some useful applications that are easy to download and are designed to help you meet five common goals. Remember, some apps are designed to be used on certain phones and not others.

Manage Your Money
Mint.com Personal Finance: An easy way to manage money on the go, this Android app lets users see all their accounts in one place—all for free.

Sprint Mobile Wallet: This app gives users an easy, secure way to buy physical and digital products using their Sprint phone. Customers use a universal PIN to make purchases easily using their Visa, MasterCard and Amazon Payments accounts at participating online merchants, right on their phone. Sprint Mobile Wallet is available to download through Sprint Zone on most Sprint phones.

Get Fit
Whether hitting the gym or pounding the pavement, these Android apps are designed to help you get active and get in shape.

CardioTrainer: Whether they choose to break a sweat indoors or outdoors, users can take advantage of this app to track walking, running, biking and other activities. It features a pedometer, calorie counter, music player, schedule and reminders and more. Users can also set up and follow a two-month fitness routine, and even stake some money to be donated to charity if they don’t meet their goal. It’s available for Android phones.

Instant Heart Rate: By placing their finger gently over the camera lens and holding it steady for 10 seconds, users can see their heart rate and keep track of how well that workout is working no matter where they are.

Get Organized
Save time and keep organized on the go with Sprint phones such as HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Epic 4G and BlackBerry Style. These phones can regularly sync contacts, calendar and e-mail with the user’s business and personal accounts. Downloadable apps for Sprint phones provide additional organization features:

Astrid Task/To-do List: This to-do list/task manager is designed to help users get stuff done. It features reminders, tags, sync, a widget and more.

Springpad: Users can save the things they want to remember with this app, including notes, tasks, lists, wines and recipes. Users can scan barcodes, take photos and search nearby places. The app automatically organizes and enhances what users save with useful links and relevant news and offers and then syncs with springpadit.com for universal access. Available for Android and BlackBerry smartphones and through GetJar for basic phones.

Keep in Touch
These days, there are more ways than ever to keep in touch with loved ones, no matter how much distance separates them. Of course, there’s text messaging, picture mail and social networking on Sprint phones. For anyone who’s already a pro at those, there’s now a whole new option: video chat.

In fact, in a recent survey of well-known movie, TV and sports stars, Sprint found that many celebrities are looking forward to using video chat to keep in touch with friends and family. For example, Vanessa Williams, currently starring in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” said clear and reliable video chat “would be an awesome feature for a cell device!” and expressed a desire to mobile chat with her “daughter in college to stay connected at any given time.” Amanda Beard, Olympic champion swimmer, said, “If I could video chat with anyone in my phone, it would be my son. I really get sad when I have to leave him even for a day, so it would be nice for him to see me and I him.”

There are two programs available for the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic:

Fring: This app allows free two-way video calling over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi.

Qik: Users can see and hear each other with two-way live video chats over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, plus record and share videos with friends, family and social networks with this app. All videos are stored to the users’ account at qik.com.

Go Green
Wireless Recycling: When you purchase or upgrade to a new device, remember to responsibly recycle old/unused wireless devices through a trusted take-back program.

To learn more, go to http://www.sprint.com/responsibility or follow @SprintGreenNews on Twitter.

According to research from Windows Live Hotmail that examined inboxes across all email providers, the average American juggles three email accounts, with an average of 200 unread emails. Nearly 60 percent of people say that the volume of spam and junk mail they receive is a problem, and 70 percent of people actually feel they are missing emails because of the clutter.

The survey also found that despite feeling overwhelmed, Americans also seem to think they might actually read all that mail someday, as 56 percent of people admitted to holding on to emails for three weeks or longer, and of that, 31 percent admit to a year or more. Three million Americans suffer from hoarding but 20 times as many people are email hoarders. Dr. Robin Zasio, hoarding expert and star of the television series “Hoarders,” says that whether physical or digital in nature, clutter can be stressful and actually decrease productivity and happiness.

“Most people don’t hang on to an advertising flyer that arrived in the mail three months ago, let alone a few years ago,” says Dr. Zasio. “Surprisingly, one in five Americans admit to email hoarding and letting their emails pile up.”

Whether survey respondents have the habit of hoarding or the urge to purge, an overwhelming 80 percent of people want to have a more efficient email experience. Dr. Zasio recommends the following tips and advice, with the help of a few Hotmail tools, to give your inbox a thorough sweep this spring-cleaning season.

Consolidate and Create Folders: Juggling several email accounts and don’t know how to keep them all organized? Hotmail lets you consolidate all your email accounts to one email hub so you can quickly search and organize conversations. Group similar messages in folders, file messages that you need to keep or reference at a later date and quickly get to the email you care about most.

Sweep! Hotmail offers a feature called the Sweep button to help you sweep away mail to help you manage your email clutter. One click of the button and it will not only sweep out all chosen mail in your inbox, it will sweep all future mails, too. Sweep newsletters into an assigned folder, sweep junk mail into the deleted folder. And because we all know it’s easy for unwanted email to creep back into your inbox after you’ve deleted it, the Sweep feature lets you forever say good-bye to emails from unwanted senders with one click.

Manage inbox clutter with conversation view: Create a system of organization and say bye-bye to missing email conversations. With Hotmail you can condense several email conversations into one view for easy-to-follow dialogue with friends and family. You can also arrange email by date or individual.

Schedule uninterrupted organization time and don’t procrastinate: Procrastination can hinder your inbox’s organization. Take time to respond, file or delete email as it arrives. The longer you wait, the more it piles up and becomes a bigger problem. With so many distractions, it’s important to establish a time each day to process mail and ensure a clean and organized inbox. Turn off all distractions, such as Facebook or Twitter, and before you know it, the discipline becomes habit.

For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/hotmail.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of WordPress.

As you no doubt already know, plugins dramatically enhance the appearance and functionality of your WordPress blog. From adding editorial calendars to search engine optimization, from spam comment moderation to image slideshows — plugins offer the simplest way to make changes to your blog with the ease of a few clicks.

Shortcodes are another blog enhancement that were first introduced in WordPress version 2.5. Essentially a WordPress shorthand, these codes enable you to add design and additional functionality to your blog with the addition of a simple one or two word command. With shortcodes, there is no need for writing mind-numbing code, or the need for having code-writing wonks on the payroll. Simply drop in the desired shortcode, and update the page.

We’re just beginning to see blog themes that embrace the shortcode utility. One of my favorite premium design groups, Woo Themes, is among the early adopters — you can also find quite a few shortcode-enabled themes at Theme Forest. But what if you love your current theme?

Never fear. A new plugin will enable you to add over 100 shortcodes to your site with the ease you’ve come to love and expect from WordPress.

Shortcode Kid (what a great name!) has crammed just about every possible shortcode you could ever want into this plugin. You’ll be able to add multiple columns of text, alert boxes, buttons of every color, tool tips, tabbed boxes, toggle boxes, RSS feeds, and highlighted text — you can even drop in videos, add protected gateways for membership content, social sharing buttons, and pull quotes. And, even if you decide to swap out your themes as often as I do, you won’t lose any of the formatting that you’ve added.

This is a premium plugin, so you will have to part with some cash to add this handy little gem to your site. But at $40, it’s a cost that is easily justified when you consider all of the time it’s going to save you. It’s a simple, handy way to give your blog some pizazz. This is one that I’d consider a must-have for any serious blogger.

Editorial Note: WordPress 3.0 or newer, as well as a self-hosted WordPress blog are required to run this plugin. It will NOT work with blogs hosted on WordPress.org.

Email is great, except when there’s too much of it.

Google Priority Inbox automatically identifies your important email and separates it out from everything else, so you can focus on what really matters.

As messages come in, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most and which messages you open and reply to.

Priority Inbox will be rolling out to all GMail users, including those who use Google Apps. You’ll see the “NEW! Priority Inbox” link in the top right corner of your GMail account. For an overview of how it works, check out the video.

To learn more about the service, visit http://mail.google.com/mail/help/priority-inbox.html.

Some of that time is the boss’s fault. Workers say 5.5 hours each week are spent in meetings, and most of that time is not productive.

Some things to consider before setting up your next meeting:

• Invite only those who need to attend and are relevant to the purpose of the meeting.

• Have an agenda. Know what you are going to say.
• Stick to business and avoid chit-chat. Some bosses hold meetings where everyone is standing up.

• Avoid scheduling confusion — use apps like Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar to make sure your team has the time blocked out in their schedule. To make sure everyone is familiar with the topics to be discussed, consider providing the agenda to everyone in advance. If you will be looking for specific details on project milestones, be sure to alert your team to come prepared with this information.

• Don’t hold a meeting if it isn’t needed. Regular meetings for no specific purpose are a waste of time.

• If you operate multiple locations, cut down on travel time by having a virtual meeting. Services such as MyMeeting123 or GoToWebinar allow you all the interaction without the costs involved with an on-site meeting.

• To manage projects, consider solutions such as those offered by 37Signals.com. With everything from real-time chat to project management and contact management solutions, they offer powerful, no-nonsense solutions without long-term contracts.

Other Tips for Boosting Office Productivity

• Have a real to-do list that includes only those projects that will be done today.

• Don’t rely on memory, because other matters will enter your mind and create stress.

• Schedule your browsing time and email processing. By batching these tasks, you avoid getting bogged down processing replies, or losing track of time while you surf your favorite sites. Keep your personal surfing relegated to your lunch hour. Break time is too short.

• Take notes. Write down ideas to consider at a later time. Always have a note pad handy.

• Stay organized. Keep material you are not presently working on off of your desk so you can concentrate on one thing at a time.

• Break a big task into smaller segments that can be worked on for part of each day.

• Write brief text messages and emails. If what you have to say doesn’t fit, pick up the telephone.

• Use the last 15 or 20 minutes of each day to set yourself up work for tomorrow.
• Clean out the email in-box.

Imagine you had three extra hours this week to devote to your own improvement as a leader.

Or imagine you had half a day this week to catch up on some of the backlogged work that never seems to get done. How would that help you clear the way to your bigger goals?

Or what if you had a whole day off this week to use for rest and renewal? What would you do? Do you suppose that would make you feel more refreshed? How would a dose of restoration affect your mood, your thinking, your relationships, and your decisions?

Each of us can think of valuable ways to spend our time, and chances are some of those ideas are more valuable than the ways you’re spending your time right now. The fact is that when you maximize your time, you actually do have more hours in the day. So if you’ve ever wondered when things would slow down, you’re in luck. The time is now!

The key is to take advantage of shortcut strategies for maximizing your time. Following are five “shortcuts” that will dramatically reduce the time you spend racing around the fast track so you can exit into a life of leading and living well.

Shortcut 1: Modeling
In many industries, modeling is a strategy used to mock up an end product before investing the time, effort and expense required to complete it. Your time may be the most precious resource you have; make a model before you go out and spend it.

Figure out what the ideal schedule would look like. Sit down with a pencil and a sheet of paper and sketch the way you’d like the next stretch of time to look. In just a few minutes you can design your ideal week – or for that matter, your ideal day, month, or year. It will take time to turn the model into reality, but now you know what’s possible. You may actually find creating the “real thing” to be easier than you think.

Shortcut 2: Define Your Time
You can define your time by thinking about the various activities that take your time and grouping them together. Start with the basics, such as meeting days (when you are available to meet with other people), work days (those you keep to yourself to do your own work), flex days (to have a cushion for spillover activities), admin days (for catching up on paperwork and other administrative tasks), and days off (for rest and renewal). If a whole day seems too long to devote to a single kind of work, then go by half days or even two-hour blocks. You can make your days as specific as you want.

If you don’t define your days, then every day you bounce around from one activity to another to another, all day long. Time is lost as you try to transition from a high-energy activity to one that requires you to be calm and quiet. You have a harder time getting focused because you’re constantly changing the focus. In contrast, defining your time allows you to get into one mindset for a particular type of activity and stay there. You can find your rhythm and get into a groove so you actually accomplish more in less time.

Shortcut 3: Make Appointments with Yourself
You make appointments with clients, and you keep them. You schedule time with your boss, and you show up. You commit to meetings, and you attend. Now apply the same concept to yourself. Set a meeting with a specific purpose and be there to get the job done.

You don’t have to set a recurring meeting that happens every week. You might just need to make one appointment to do some quality thinking or make some important phone calls that keep getting brushed aside. The important part of this strategy isn’t the “what” or the “when” or the “how many” of the appointments. The important part of this strategy is the fact that you recognize there’s something specific you want to do, decide when you’re going to do it, and schedule the time. Keep that appointment and you’ll have the time you need – guaranteed.

Shortcut 4: Breaking Time Rules
Whether we know it or not, we are all operating on unspoken time rules, such as:

• You must work eight to ten hours per day.
• You must take time off on Saturdays and Sundays.
• You must be available by phone and email at all times.
• You must take vacations in full-day or full-week increments.

But you can escape the rules of time. How you spend your time is a choice.
For instance, maybe you’d rather leave work every day at 3:00 p.m. but work six days a week. Maybe you’d rather get a long massage once a month instead of taking a full-week vacation. Start defining the length of your workday by the results you achieve instead of the hours you work. Time rules don’t necessarily mean working less, but they do mean working with more freedom and choice.

If you think this won’t work in your company, the first question is, “Have you checked?” A host of creative work options are available as people and their companies look for ways to use time in a way that works for them. And if not, there are plenty of creative ways for you to break time rules within your existing agreements. Ask for what you want. Make a proposal. If you’re willing to be fair, negotiate and persist, you will be surprised at how accommodating others will be.

Shortcut 5: Replace Multitasking with “Unitasking”
Multitasking is a fact of life in a high-speed world. And it does work to help you manage complex, non-linear tasks, like being available to people whenever they need you, staying on top of “moving targets,” and handling phone calls and requests that come in at random.
But recognize the impact multitasking has on you. Your actions become fragmented, your thinking is interrupted, you make hasty decisions and you do things poorly. To get the focus you need to be effective in achieving your vision, try replacing it with “unitasking.” The whole strategy is this: do one thing at a time.

Doing one thing at a time – even for a short time – improves concentration, calms you down, and allows you to get more done in less time. Considering that on average only about three minutes out of every hour are used with maximum focus, you can improve your “concentration rate” in just five minutes at a time. Then fifteen. Then twenty.

You don’t have to unitask all the time, just when it counts, like when you are strategizing, visioning, goal-setting, brainstorming, planning, and having one-on-one conversations. These are the kinds of activities that benefit from unitasking. Unitasking communicates a respect for the people and processes that deserve your full attention. As much as you possibly can, practice dong one thing at a time. Set the time aside, focus, concentrate, and you’ll get your tasks done both fast and well.

Accomplish More in Less Time
You will never have control of your time until you take control of it. So while your day will still consist of 24 hours just like it always has, when you implement these five shortcuts you’ll feel like you accomplish more because the time you use will be most productive. Therefore, stop long enough to get a handle on how you want to spend your time, and then implement these new ways to maximize the time you do have. Rethinking your relationship to time takes an open mind, it takes commitment, and (ironically) it takes time. But the investment you make in it will pay you back hour after precious hour. You’ll find that you’ll achieve more progress and fulfillment in all areas of your life – and in less time than you ever imagined.

About the Author:
Dr. Joelle K. Jay, Ph. D., is an executive coach and the senior managing partner of the leadership development firm, Pillar Consulting. She strategizes with business leaders to enhance their performance and maximize business results. Her clients include presidents, vice presidents, and C-level executives in Fortune 500 companies. Joelle is the author of “The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership.” For a free Sample Chapter, go to http://www.TheInnerEdge.com.