TELECOMMUTING - PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR CAPABILITIES

Recent advances in information and communications technologies have pe rmitted new flexibility in work arrangements, The number of people who either work from their home or take work home from their job is incre asing, This evolution has lead to a different set of needs at the pers on's residence than is traditionally required by the residential marke t. This paper presents an empirical study, based on 375 responses, to clarify: 1) the small business and residential market communications' needs and problems; 2) the new communications technologies' potential to fill those modern needs; and 3) the impact of the communications' n eeds and problems on the telecommuters' effectiveness. The implication of the findings from this study for the technologies providers, manag ers, university community, and researchers are discussed in detail.