The home office has become just as important as the kitchen in many households. Having a neatly setup home office can greatly improve your chances of success in your data entry work at home job. Because a number of individuals are confused about what tools they need, consider this article a basic checklist.

1. Your own computer/laptop. Sharing computer equipment can slow you down. If you dont already own your own personal computer consider purchasing one that has the following features:

- at least 256MB of memory

- a CD or recordable DVD drive

- virus and spy ware protection.

- Microsoft office package

- High speed internet connection

2. All-in-one. This is a convenient space saver that lets you print, copy, scan, and fax. That fax machine is particularly important for data entry work at home agents.

3. Computer faxing/telephone service. If you want, you can skip the clunky fax machine all together and opt for computer based faxing service. These companies usually provide members with business lines and #800 numbers as well. Having a computer based phone service is a nice alternative to using your home or cell phone number on your website or marketing material.

4. OCR. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) .This is scanner that allows you take a handwritten, type written or printed text and translate it into machine-editable text. If you wrote an article or letter by hand for a client, you could save time by feeding it into an OCR and then editing the file using a word processor.

5. Transcribing Machine: Having a transcribing machine can greatly improve your data entry work at home job prospects. Many companies ask for transcription services, not just medical companies. You can transcribe for focus groups, financial companies, education seminars, religious sermons and law offices.

6. File Cabinet: As a data entry work at home clerk you have to be able to pull out the right files quickly when your client asks. Having a file cabinet will help you do this. There are two ways you can organize your files: in a traditional file cabinet that stores physical paper documents or in an electric file cabinet. There are pros and cons to each method. The main point though is that your documents be organized for easy access.

7. Form processing software: Having form processing software will also increase your job prospects. Many data entry companies provide you with this tool; however, if you are working as a freelance data entry work at home agent then having your own is a bonus.

8. Book keeping software: Book keeping software is a must. Independent data entry clerks, such as yourself, need to track your own earnings, expenses and taxes.

9. Business Cards: Data entry work at home clerks are responsible for soliciting their own work. Having business cards on hand will make networking easier.

Above are some basic things you need for your data entry work at home job. Some are vital for your job such a computer with high speed internet and others such as form processing software are additions that you may want to consider. However, having the right equipment can open the door to more data entry work at home jobs.