Commuting is part and parcel of working life be this a short
stroll to work for a very lucky few to the endless train or car journey to the
office. For some, it may even involve hoping on a plane. One thing is for sure
though, the time to and from work can be utilised to reduce the hours you have
to spend in the office thanks to the addition of Wi-Fi hot spots.
For those that have to drive sadly there’s not much chance
of finishing that last minute presentation but for those on public transport,
the addition of Wi-Fi hot spots and connectivity has opened the gates for extra
working hours.
Got to travel for business, still need to catch up on emails
or send the presentation over before you land? No problem. Simply check if your
flight has a Wi-Fi symbol next to it.... and you thought ordering your food choice
was as complicated as it got?
You can even buy a wireless card courtesy of Go Go in-flight
internet allowing you to surf till your heart’s content for a mere few dollars
when pre purchased for US flights.
Over 38% off domestic flights in the US now have Wi-Fi
access which has grown from 5% to 7% per year. There is also set to be an even
larger rate of increase as more company’s roll out the satellite based
technology.
Now even 120 London underground tube stations also have
access to the internet provided either through monthly contract with selected
ISPs or a pre paid daily, weekly or monthly subscription.
But, is it worth it? Surely, when we have free internet
access at work already or can pop to Starbucks or McDonalds at lunch and log on
for free, are the commuter services just cashing in on our need for constant
data? In one sense, yes, it does bring in extra revenue to the flight and rail
services but the benefit to the customer can out way the cost.
With house prices still high in city locations despite the
economic downturn, we have had to up sticks and join the waft of commuters
filing onto the trains in the morning. With train journeys taking upwards of an
hour, that extra time to finish documents, arrange meetings and clear down your
inbox can be hugely beneficial.
Time travelling internationally used to eat into the working
day, flights would be booked early to ensure the working day would not be
affected but now, with on-board Wi-Fi your office can be tens of thousands of
feet high in the sky and no one need be any wiser to your location.
Obviously, the time spent travelling does not have to be
used for work. Catching up on the latest Apprentice episode, the news or
instagram video can all be done while waiting for the train. And with many
companies banning the use of social networking sites during working hours, the
need to find out whose done what can be intense.
With smart phone and tablets already offering us connection
via our data plans we can of course just
use our phones but there’s something alluring about turning the Wi-Fi on, the
extra speed, potential cost saving when using free Wi-Fi and the capacity to
send and receive higher bandwidths can be just too tempting.
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