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Technological progress signals the dawn of the 'techno-commuter'
From the ghetto blaster to the Walkman back to the music played through mobile speakerphones, many things occur in cycles and so it is with the world of work.
Just as prior to the industrial revolution most work was done in the home, now experts have predicted the rise and rise of the 'techno-commuter' as advancements in internet communications make the office increasingly redundant.
Earlier this month the Office of National Statistics revealed that, at its latest count in 2005 - which of course fails to take into account the significant advantages made in the broadband internet sector in the time since - around 2.4 million UK adults, equivalent to eight per cent of the working population, are part of the new generation of teleworkers.
While this may seem like a significant proportion, industry observers predict that this is just the beginning and that over the coming years, the nation's offices will empty as employers look to cut costs and employees seek to swing the work/life balance in their favour.
Indeed, just 20 per cent of British businesses currently have members of their staff involved in teleworking, far behind the 40 per cent levels seen in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, according to Work Wise UK, a non-profit initiative aimed at promoting the benefits of more flexible working practices.
Considering that the UK also has the highest level of affordable broadband connections available to users in the world, with 99.6 per cent of Britons currently having access to terrestrial broadband, a higher rate than the US, Japan, France and South Korea, there is significant untapped potential and room for growth within the telemarketing sector.
It seems inevitable, therefore, that working from home will continue to grow in popularity, meaning that both businesses and internet communications providers will have to step up to the challenge.
"UK management needs to stop making excuses and modernise," said Phil Flaxton, the chief executive of Work Wise UK.
"Smarter working practices are not only infinitely better for the workforce, they actually improve productivity. BT, a major employer in the UK, has reported productivity improvements of 20 per cent where it has introduced smarter working practices."
The largest challenge facing internet service providers working in this area is the issue of security.
According to the communications industry regulator Ofcom, despite the advantages of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) internet communication technologies as well as the recent developments made in the area, security concerns is the number one issue holding back both UK businesses and home users from switching over to using internet communications systems.
Just 15 per cent of the firms recently polled in a study conducted by the National Computing Centre had adopted VoIP technologies, meaning that many organisations continue to rely upon traditional phone lines and email to keep in touch with their home workers, partly due to worries over possible security breaches.
However, one other factor also seems to be holding back the teleworking revolution.
The research carried out by the ONS found that one of the chief complaints from those who have trialled working from home is that they missed being away from the social interaction and banter of the workplace.
Several communications providers, and indeed some businesses, have already began experimenting with advanced VoIP technologies in addition to using real-time web cams to construct a true 'virtual office'.
Whatever the future, the teleworking genie has been let out of its bottle and it seems unlikely it will never be put back in. 
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