Home office update: more help in getting started.

• Author: Prata, Kathleen

Today more people are setting up offices in their homes than ever before.

Rick Voss, merchandising manager for h.h. Gregg in Indianapolis, says the home-office market is the fastest-growing segment of his company's business. Susan Woodworth, Ameritech's Work at Home market manager, says a recent survey estimates that there are 33.7 million home-worker households in the United States.

This number is expected to rise as more women opt for working at home as a way to balance career and family. Companies, meanwhile, see placing workers in the home as a way to meet Clean Air Act requirements, as well as increase employee productivity. And then there are the briefcase workers, those who don't leave the office at the office.

Phone service usually is the first decision for home workers. Ameritech home-office specialists recommend products and services after determining what types of business use will be performed in the home office. Rates for an additional line, highly recommended by many home-office workers, range from $17.98 to $50. "The work-at-home customer doesn't always really know what their needs are up front," says Cynthia Ackil, manager of the Work At Home operation in Indiana. "So home specialists help customers identify their options."

The options are many, such as a multiring service, which allows a single phone line to have up to three phone numbers, each with a unique ring. Other Ameritech Custom Business Service features include call transfer, three-way calling and repeat dialing. Voice mail gives a professional image over answering machines because callers will never get a busy signal.

Ameritech has several home-office booklets describing its services, discussing in detail modems and faxes, giving tips on setting up a business, as well as referring the reader to other publications. Once you're added to the database, you will also receive the quarterly Work at Home newsletter.

Full-feature cordless phones are working their way into home-business applications, Voss says. Equipped with any combination of speaker phone, answering machine, intercom and paging capabilities, they run from $130 to $200. Most include 10 channels and special circuitry that eliminates most unwanted noise.

The personal computer is the centerpiece of any home office. Erik Smelser, systems consultant for CounterPoint Computers in Greenwood, a retailer of Macintosh computers, says price shouldn't be the only consideration when shopping for a computer. "Too often...