Moving the work to the workers: while telecommuting and telework are huge trends, Alaska may be the Last Frontier for virtual offices.

• Author: Carroll, Ed

If the real Alaska is just 20 minutes outside Anchorage, then Susan and Matthew Teel and their three children are right out in it. At their home in Chugiak, a little more than 20 miles from downtown, the Teels can watch the moose browse in the yard while they home-school their kids. They believe that the little bit of distance provides a much better atmosphere for their family than the busy suburbia and urban core of the city.

Like many Alaskans, the Teels have adapted their working lives to their home lives so they can be more involved with their children. They do not commute twice daily to the city they work out of their home.

But what sets the Teels apart is the office equipment in their basement: eight computers, a sophisticated network, network server and the fastest, most expensive phone line in Chugiak. They're among the growing number of Alaskans who manage what amounts to a "virtual workplace."

"We thought about putting an office in town," says Susan Teel, "but we really don't need to." The Teels' company, Distributed Data Systems, maintains a server for World Wide Web clients, builds home pages and develops intranet and database integration solutions. "He's the technical wiz; the programmer, the database person- I do the graphics and HTML," Susan says.

She estimates that 10 percent to 20 percent of their time might be spent meeting with clients, usually in the client's office. But it's not like clients aren't welcome at their home amidst a home-school day; the Teels manage a very flexible home-work day. "Nobody really seems to mind," Susan says. "If anything, they're a little jealous."

Moving the work to the worker through communications technology, whether it's called telecommuting, tele-working or defies an easy label, is a huge trend that's predicted to radically change the way we work. In professions from graphic design to medicine and education to government bureaucrats, if the work involves manipulating and conveying information, many believe the workplace will be the global communications network rather than a concrete and steel building.

One U.S. Government Services Administration report estimates more than 5 million Americans use an alternate workplace at least once a week, with most of those "telecommuting" between home and a private sector office. One telecommuting writer and consultant, Jack Nilles, writing on the home page of his company, JALA International, puts the number of telecommuters in the U.S. at 12.7 million...