Countless words have been written and spoken about the travel office over the past decade. Every new laptop computer that can be linked to a travel phone is hyped as the office in your car. However, the true travel office remains an elusive concept. True, there are a few in existence: travel are one example and television outside broadcast units another, but these are special-purpose vehicles. The business community has not yet taken to the widespread use of vehicles as business bases, replacing office desks, for people who spend much of their time travelling.
Apart from the profound change in business attitudes required, the bewildering pace of technological advance in communications has probably contributed much to this malaise. Business people simply cannot keep pace with new developments. When you strip away the jargon, however, the requirements for a travel office are quite simple. Essentially, you need just three things: a travel phone, a laptop computer with a cellular phone link, and a travel fax which doubles as a photocopier.
With the above, you can do business from a vehicle - virtually any vehicle. Indeed, as the hardware becomes smaller, the day is fast approaching when all the essential equipment will fit into a small suitcase or large briefcase. For the moment, however the business executives aspiring to an office in the car must be prepared to sacrifice some space in the passenger area. A typical configuration might be as follows.
The first requirement is a travel phone, for which you have three options: a fixed in car phone; a hand portable with its own rechargeable power pack, designed to be carried about with you: or one which can be carried, but which also clips into the car to run off the car battery. In practice, hand-portable phones are not a realistic option as the main phone for the travel office. The current state of battery technology means that they provide only about 60 to 100 minutes of conversation before the battery must be replaced or recharged.
They can, however, be useful as a backup, because the latest models, such as Motorola's 9800X Micro T.A.C. or its sister the Personal cell phone, are extremely small and light, with a fold up mouthpiece, which makes them easy to slip into a pocket or briefcase while you are away from the vehicle. The ideal phone link for the travel office, though, is probably an in car unit which operates to all items and purposes like a fixed in car phone, but can be unclipped and carried about. New models are constantly coming on the market, but the NEC P3 and the F-series from Panasonic are both to be recommended as small and light enough to be easily portable when away from the vehicle, but acting as powerful hands-free travel phones when clipped into the cradle in the car.
A hands-free facility is essential today to comply with the Highway Code, which strongly advises against holding a hand-held phone while driving. The hands-free facility allows the user to hold a conversation without picking up the phone, using a small speaker and microphone fitted near the driver's head. Whichever unit you choose, it will be connected to either the Cell net or Vodafone cellular network. Both networks give similar coverage of the UK, but Cell net offers a built-in message taking service, 'callback'. which ensures that you receive messages even when away from the car, or when your phone is switched off for any reason.
Apart from the profound change in business attitudes required, the bewildering pace of technological advance in communications has probably contributed much to this malaise. Business people simply cannot keep pace with new developments. When you strip away the jargon, however, the requirements for a travel office are quite simple. Essentially, you need just three things: a travel phone, a laptop computer with a cellular phone link, and a travel fax which doubles as a photocopier.
With the above, you can do business from a vehicle - virtually any vehicle. Indeed, as the hardware becomes smaller, the day is fast approaching when all the essential equipment will fit into a small suitcase or large briefcase. For the moment, however the business executives aspiring to an office in the car must be prepared to sacrifice some space in the passenger area. A typical configuration might be as follows.
The first requirement is a travel phone, for which you have three options: a fixed in car phone; a hand portable with its own rechargeable power pack, designed to be carried about with you: or one which can be carried, but which also clips into the car to run off the car battery. In practice, hand-portable phones are not a realistic option as the main phone for the travel office. The current state of battery technology means that they provide only about 60 to 100 minutes of conversation before the battery must be replaced or recharged.
They can, however, be useful as a backup, because the latest models, such as Motorola's 9800X Micro T.A.C. or its sister the Personal cell phone, are extremely small and light, with a fold up mouthpiece, which makes them easy to slip into a pocket or briefcase while you are away from the vehicle. The ideal phone link for the travel office, though, is probably an in car unit which operates to all items and purposes like a fixed in car phone, but can be unclipped and carried about. New models are constantly coming on the market, but the NEC P3 and the F-series from Panasonic are both to be recommended as small and light enough to be easily portable when away from the vehicle, but acting as powerful hands-free travel phones when clipped into the cradle in the car.
A hands-free facility is essential today to comply with the Highway Code, which strongly advises against holding a hand-held phone while driving. The hands-free facility allows the user to hold a conversation without picking up the phone, using a small speaker and microphone fitted near the driver's head. Whichever unit you choose, it will be connected to either the Cell net or Vodafone cellular network. Both networks give similar coverage of the UK, but Cell net offers a built-in message taking service, 'callback'. which ensures that you receive messages even when away from the car, or when your phone is switched off for any reason.
