Virtual
Reality Offices
by
Mark Sedenquist
It
wasn't my intention to allow five weeks to pass before I sat
down to compose my thoughts about the 2000 Comdex show in
Las Vegas in November, but the delay has allowed some perspective
to settle in amongst the razzle-dazzle memories of the marketing
efforts at the show. My focus at all such telecommunication
and electronic shows is to look for products or services that
can deliver useful informational tools that a Dashboarder
can use today. Most of the coolest new versions of PDA's,
Web-pads and multi-feature cellular devices only perform well
in the cleanest digital urban areas of the United States and
fail to meet the minimum standards of roving and mobile dashboarders.
One of the interesting aspects of Comdex is that much of the
best cutting edge technology never appears on any of the official
exhibit halls of the convention. Manufacturers and service
providers rent luxury hotel suites to showcase new ideas to
corporate clients. While wandering down the hallways of the
penthouse suites in the Strip hotels I saw PC-like devices
and elaborate viewing systems that looked like they had just
been transported from the nearest starship. In light of this,
it seemed particularly appropriate that I did find a service
for Dashboarders away from the convention halls aboard a motorhome
owned by Terri & Steve Romine.
Terri
Lee Romine is a certified Virtual Assistant, (VA), who is
based in the Los Angeles area. VA's are independent contractors
who provide office and administrative support to businesses.
Back in 1997, when we formed RTA Marketing a provider of event
and road promotional services, we found that our corporate
clients perceived our on-the-road lifestyle as potentially
unsuitable for a contractor who was supposed to manage and
produce six-figure promotional campaigns. Our solution was
to hire an office manager and create an office location in
Ft. Worth, Texas. The physical location of an office based
in a major urban area and the in-charge quality of the entrepreneur
we hired provided a sufficient presence for our corporate
client to feel comfortable in hiring RTA Marketing to undertake
their campaign efforts. Terri and a host of fellow VA's across
the country are providing similar services to their clients.
"My client's customers can always find someone at their
desk answering the phone," says Terri, who provides a
near 100% office solution between normal business hours of
7:00 am to 6:00 pm.
When
I first found the International Virtual Assistants Association
website, (www.ivaa.org),
I thought it could provide a perfect job opportunity for dashboarders
themselves, but the lack of an effective and 100% reliable
wireless network will require that VA's stay connected to
their land-lines for the foreseeable future. Most VA's operate
from home offices equipped with high speed internet access
and can provide a secretarial solution for incoming calls
to a dashboarder's business number, provide website design,
desktop publishing support, database and computer management
and general office support including payroll and research
services. Terri's clients include attorneys, e-business solution
providers, salespersons, doctors, pest control professionals,
and other entrepreneurs. On the few occasions when Terri and
Steve hit the road, she uses instant messaging, e-mail and
the Motorola T-900 to stay in touch with her client's customers.
More information about Terri's company is on-line at www.innovativeoffice.net.
In
the cool gadgets category, I really liked the demonstration
versions of the new Handspring
Visor. Since the show, I have seen a few of them being
used by other first-adopters. Craig Smith, a fellow dashboarder,
was impressed with the power-consumption/management innovation
that ensures that the add-on elements - a digital camera,
GPS unit and wireless modem all have internal battery sources
so that the plug-and-play modules don't adversely affect the
basic calendar and date book functions of the PDA device.
There were a number of new hands-free devices including a
blue-tooth enabled headset being marketing under the Netcom
label. For those who would want to take their PC into the
backcountry (putting aside for the moment - the lack of a
supporting wireless network…) there are some very cool notebook
computers being built by Melard
Technologies. The expectation of true two-way satellite
connectivity for dashboarders was dashed by the realities
of the rollout by both the StarBand and DirecPC offerings.
For an excellent discussion check out the entries
by Mychal in the Wireless Forum.
I
am looking forward to next month's Consumer Electronic Show--
perhaps I will find some new stuff that really works in the
dashboarder's world. I hope your holiday season is merry and
relatively free of static.
Mark
Sedenquist
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 18, 2000
