Buying Time - Technology Information

Home Office Computing, Jan, 2001 by Helen Bradley

Many popular office supply stores have adopted an invaluable "any way you want to shop" attitude. For example, whether you go online or into one of its many neighborhood stores, Staples (www.staples.com) offers office supplies, furniture, and business services including printing, tax preparation, and even marketing and legal services for the business owner.

TRAVEL

Booking travel used to involve phoning a travel agent. Then there'd be telephone conversations and faxed itineraries back and forth as you made your choices. If you were driving, you'd have to buy a map and spend time working out the best route. Today, you can book your own airline tickets, rental car, and hotel rooms, and even obtain maps and driving directions from the desk in your home office.

Before she heads off on a speaking engagement, Santa Monica, Calif., resident Ruth Klein, author of two books on time management for professional women, goes online: "I book my tickets online and, before I go, I check to see what the weather is like. I [also] use flightarrivals.com to check for flight details. It saves me time and I'm well prepared."

To get the same time-saving results, AAA members should start by visiting the organization's Web site (www.aaa.com), where they can order maps and obtain driving directions from the AAA RouteMaster online service. RouteMaster gives instant, customized address-to-address or city-to-city directions and can calculate mileage and provide alerts for detours and construction on major highways. Maps.com, MapBlast (www.mapblast. com), and MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) provide similar services without requiring you to be a member.

To save time hunting for available hotel accommodations in unfamiliar cities, use an online reservation service. Sites like the Hotel Reservation Network (www.hotelreservationnetwork. com) and Expedia.com let you book cut-price accommodations in major U.S. and international destinations.

If you decide not to travel but still need to attend meetings, you can set up a videoconference from your office using products like Microsoft's NetMeeting (www.microsoft.com/netmeeting). This freeware application works with Windows PCs and most plug-in Webcams to share audio and video data, and lets you collaborate using shared applications in real time. Other solutions include online workspaces such as WorkSpace (www.wamnet.com), which allows home office workers to share, manage, and store digital content online with their clients and customers.

Of course, the easiest way to save time on travel is not to travel at all. Cindy White, proprietor of Lady Cynthia Millinery in Rohnert Park, Calif., used to travel to craft shows and boutiques across the country, selling her line of hats from the trunk of her car. "I spent too much time on the road; it was exhausting continually packing and unpacking; and I wasn't making the money I should have been," she recalls. Things changed when White bought a computer and put up her own Web site. She now makes hats to order from her e-commerce catalog, and rarely has to leave her neighborhood on business. "The Internet saves me all that traveling time, and I now sell worldwide," she notes. "I couldn't do that if I had to travel."