Understanding umbrella terms associated with telecommuting

Telecommuting is a work arrangement between an employer / business and an employee / contractor to work from some remote location away from a fixed business location. The names associated with telecommuting are randomly used by many people. We will look at the array of used terms most associated with telecommuting.

Telecommuting, e-commuting & e-work all coined and mean the same things a mentioned above. These terms basically relate to an arranged working relationship between and employer and an employee to do some portion of their agreed upon work from a remote location. Now there is a term used called Telework/ers that does not exactly fit the mode as telecommuting, but close!

Telework and or Teleworkers to be more specific is a broader term, which primarily deals with telecommunications for any form of work-related travel. This is to say, ALL telecommuters are teleworkers but not all teleworkers are telecommuters. A motto that is often used in the industry is: “Work is something you do, not something you travel to”. So in order to clearly understand this difference lets use an example. A repair man for a printing company may have to check into a physical location before his shift and or may have to travel form home to a customer’s location. This employee is remote and in contact with the main office in order to get his next repair customer or to call in a part request. But this Teleworker is not based at a central location doing his work. As in the case of a Telecommuting worker they are based at a central location doing the work for a business.

Virtual Assistant (VA) is a term that has been bounced around more and more. And basically the meaning is in the name. A VA is an assistant to an individual or business. This VA does work from a remote location for a particular person. The work of a virtual assistant is mostly done contractually unlike a Telecommuter which is an employee of some business (however; remote)! A virtual assistant is normally focused on one particular industry line of work i.e. real estate, legal, consultancy group, or any other specific type of industry or service. Because VA’s primarily focuses on one particular industry or line of work they are becoming more of a valuable asset to a businesses or individual. VA’s are focused on work they have either been in for a number of years or have had some formal training in order to undertake the work they are asked to perform unlike a Virtual Worker which we will discuss next.

Virtual Worker (VW) is a term that is the newest term used for Telecommuting. Just as a Virtual Assistant (VA) a Virtual Worker is a contracted individual who supports an array of businesses and individuals. A virtual Worker may not be specialized in any one particular industry scope of work but a virtual worker incorporates Internet technology (IT) and entrepreneur skills to manage, create, and develop a business / individual needs remotely. A Virtual Worker works closely with those who contracts with a VW in order to accomplish a business / individual desired work requests. A Virtual Worker can also be certified and have work related skills that may provide a wider range of working skills than a Virtual Assistant that may only specialize in one primary field.

So wither you are considering out sourcing work or looking for employment / contract work as a telecommuter understanding the exact umbrella term by which you are looking for work may be a bit clearer now, in your quest. As technology, economy, and world issues continue to morph into what it will these and more defining umbrella terms and conditions will continue to change and evolve. We will talk about the classification of Telecommuter vs none Telecommuting work differ. And  how the categories of classifications differ between the two.