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Remote Control Home Security

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The ability to offer flexible schedules and web/telecommuting options is becoming an increasingly important benefit option for American workers, and employers are taking notice. When corporate budgets are tight, offering these alternative work arrangements is one way to attract and retain talented employees and build a reputation as a great employer. In fact, 82 of the companies who made Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2009 allow employees to telecommute for at least 20% of their working hours. At the same time, today's employees are placing a high value on the ability to maintain a better work-life balance, and in some cases are willing to trade a higher salary for less time in the office and an end to the rush-hour commute. According to recent survey results by Citrix Systems, Inc., the ability to work flexible hours from home was rated a more important benefit than health insurance by a significant majority of respondents. Companies who've tried it are discovering that there are some significant benefits to letting employees work remotely, including:

- Cost savings on office overhead expenses

- Improved morale and work/life balance for employees

- Ability to retain valued staff who are relocating and might otherwise be forced to resign

- Ability to attract and hire from a wider pool of employees outside your office's city, state, or even country

- Reduced travel time and costs

- Reduced traffic congestion and overall environmental impact

For employers looking to improve retention on a tight budget, now may be the time to begin implementing a web commuting option. But how can companies successfully manage these programs without losing complete control of their workforce?

Seven Tips for Successfully Managing "Stay-At-Home Staff"

The following strategies can help employers successfully navigate the transition from a completely in-house workforce to one that offers flexible work hours and remote workspaces:

1. Define Responsibilities and Expectations: While web commuting can be a win-win situation for employees and supervisors alike, it's important to spend time carefully considering specific job responsibilities and determining whether these can effectively be performed in a remote working arrangement. Supervisors must clearly communicate their expectations to employees, and both parties should agree to specific terms of the commuting arrangement, including whether the employee is to work at home, on the road, or in a satellite location, what his or her typical work schedule will be, and whether he/she is allowed to work remotely for all or just part of the regular workweek. During pre-determined web commuting hours, the employee should be accessible by phone or modem within a reasonable time period.

2. Create a Plan for "Distance Management:" In situations where web commuting arrangements fail, the reason is often because companies or individual supervisors are unsuccessful at adapting their management strategies to accommodate this new way of working. Before beginning a web commuting program, both the supervisor and employee should devise a system of communication that allows them to remain connected. This may include regular conference calls, in-person meetings, weekly reports, or some other means of reporting progress made, discussing problems, or measuring goals and results.

3. Set your Telecommuter up for Success: Research shows that web commuting arrangements often result in a significant increase in employee productivity (between 10% - 40%, according to Management Technology Associates). However, if working from home results in a lack of access and connectivity to your main offices, employees will be at a strong disadvantage, and supervisors will have limited ability to manage remotely. Before beginning a web commuting arrangement, work together with your IT department and your commuting employee to ensure he/she has all the necessary supplies and equipment to perform to capacity. This may include remote access to company email, phones, networks, databases, and other systems.

4. Take Security Measures Seriously: Even though web commuting employees may be working in a casual home environment, they should be expected to adhere to your company's policies regarding confidential and/or proprietary information. Such steps may include the use of locked file cabinets and desk drawers, regular password maintenance, secure email communications, and any other steps deemed appropriate for the specific job and home work environment.

5. Track Telecommuter Time: When it's "crunch time" for special projects or impending deadlines, working remotely can be a great way for employees to put in a few additional hours of work without creating as much of a disturbance to their home life as a late night in the office would. However, those longer hours can add up quickly without supervisors realizing it - a problem if employees are tracking billable hours and earning overtime pay that may not be in the project budget. To prevent this, telecommuters should track hours worked and, in cases of overtime pay, get supervisor approval before proceeding with additional work hours.

6. Practice Workplace Safety at Home: In many cases, workers' comp. liabilities are not limited to office headquarters. As such, employees working remotely should have a clearly defined workspace in good condition, free from hazards and dangers to both the employee and any work equipment. Employers should explain to web commuters that the same safety policies that exist on company property must also be applied in the home or other remote worksite. This includes notifying the company in the event of any job-related injury or illness. You may wish to provide telecommuters with a "safety checklist" to ensure they have the necessary information to create a safe and effective workspace.

7. Create a Web Commuting Contract: In order to make the most of the remote working arrangement and ensure both supervisor and employee are on the same page regarding expectations and responsibilities, it's a good idea to put in place a contract signed by both parties. This agreement should include the starting date of the web commuting arrangement, the proposed work schedule (including paid breaks, if applicable), overtime compensation policies, workers' compensation liabilities, and any expense reimbursement policies. It should also define which work equipment and office supplies will be provided by the employer and which equipment will be provided by the employee, as well as who is responsible for maintenance and/or replacement of equipment.

By ensuring both you and your employee have a mutual understanding of the terms and conditions of this work arrangement, you can create a viable, productive remote workforce, while making your company a competitive, highly desirable place to work.

Remote Control Home Security

We all like to satisfy our winter needs for a warm, safe place with plenty of food in the pantry. But so do rodents and other animals. When these pests intrude on our property, it becomes a situation much like kicking out the unwelcome kid next door who is constantly coming over and staying past dinner, and insists on using everything in your house for his own purposes. There are several types of animals to watch out for as it gets colder: rats, mice, raccoons, and opossums.

Rats & Mice: The general types of these rodents that exist in your home can include the Norway rat, the roof (or black) rat and the house mouse. Roof rats usually stake out attics or cabinets and can climb quite well. Norway rats choose to live in the ground by digging burrows against foundations, tree trunks, and gardens. Their burrows can lead into crawl spaces and small openings around pipes which can enable them to inhabit your kitchens and bathrooms.

No matter the type of rat that lives in your home, you can be sure that it will be attracted to any food item you have in your pantry, especially high-quality food products such as meat and fresh grain. If you have pets, be extra cautious about foods being left out, because rats will smell and detect dog food that is sitting out.

Rats need one-half to one fluid ounce of water everyday when consuming dry foods. They have extremely sharp senses of taste, hearing, and smell. Once they are aware of what is within their reach and given their keen senses, rats will do anything to get to food or shelter. Overall, rats are able to enter a building through openings that are wider than half an inch across. Rats have a very short life span -- most die within a year. However, rats can breed rapidly, so even though they die off quickly, their young will survive them. Female rats produce five or six litters of about half a dozen to a dozen young each year.

Now that you know a little about the rat's habits, how can you tell that you have rats living alongside you in your home? Spotting droppings or visible signs of fresh gnawing should be an obvious indicator of rats. Rat tracks can appear on dusty surfaces or mud. Rats usually build runways and burrows to get into your home and they can be found next to buildings and under debris and low vegetation.

Rodent Treatment

There are many things you can do to prevent rats, but what about the rats you know are already snooping in your attic and dark corners?

Snap traps can be used along with baits to attract rats. However, once other rats see that a fellow rat has been killed from a snap trap, they will avoid it at all costs. The other drawback to using a snap trap is the potential health hazards it can cause when the rat is killed by the trap. Snap traps can also pose a danger to children or pets in your home, as they can break bones or cause an even more serious injury.

Glue-boards are traps that use non-drying glue to capture and hold down rodents. These traps can be placed under tables, furniture, next to walls, refrigerators, or any place where you suspect rodent activity. Glue-boards are designed to get the rodent stuck on the board so that they cannot escape. Like the snap traps, glue-boards can pose health problems if rats' bodies are pulled apart and exposed in your home.

Live traps are probably the easiest and most inexpensive rodent control out there. The other benefit of live traps is that it poses less risk or danger to animals you are not targeting, such as your pets. They also do not kill rats, unlike all the other methods discussed above. Instead, rats are captured and left in the trap until you dispose of them. Be sure to place enough bait to attract rats. If rats are without food, they may become anxious and eventually die, leaving behind their bodies to decay, as well as a horrible stench. Try to find areas where there are a lot of rat droppings, chewed entry points, and any other place you suspect rat activity or have heard noises from.

Rodent Proofing

Here are some simple rules of thumb you can adopt to prevent a rodent invasion in your home:

- Store all your accessible food in rodent-proof containers such as glass or metal

- Place your trash in tightly covered metal cans to prevent smells from escaping or potential rodent entry.

- Check your faucets to make sure they are functioning properly and to fix leaks as they occur, since gaps or holes around pipes can serve as easy entry points for rodents.

- Seal up any unnecessary openings with concrete or sheet metal. For other access points, a 1/4 inch hardware cloth or steel wool should do the trick.

- For pet owners, put any uneaten pet food away before you go to bed, as any pet food left out is subject to rodent consumption!

- Wipe your floors often! Any bits of food left on your floor may be game for mice.

Commensal Rodents

The most common commensal rodents, raccoon and opossums, are known to many homeowners as troublemakers because of the damage they can cause by hibernating in your attic or wreaking havoc in your garden.

These animals normally hide out in attics, under decks, sheds, garages, crawl spaces, etc. Sometimes, they choose to live in naturally formed holes near foundations. Raccoons and opossums especially have an affinity for digging in yards and garbage. They love to inhabit attics where they can care for their litter in a warm, dark, and enclosed environment. If they are living in your attic, chances are your attic has a strong odor, which can eventually make its way into the living area. Besides odor problems, raccoons can destroy your insulation and chew on any electrical wires present.

Preventing Animal Pests

Here are some ways you can prevent those pesky raccoons and opossums from entering your property:

Spray a non-chemical solution over the areas where these animals are prone to dig or consume food. This will leave a bad taste in their mouths and will discourage it from going to the same place to cause trouble.

- Use a non-drying glue when animals are climbing your bird feeder poles. Once the raccoon or opossum gets the glue from the pole on their paws, it will usually irritate them enough to discourage them from climbing the pole again.

- Implement a 24/7 motion detector near your fish pond. The motion detector will be able to detect the animal when it is in its range. The detector is non-chemical and will release a three-second spray of water to scare the pest away.

For raccoons and opossums who are already inhabiting your home, trapping with a bait (usually meat) is the most effective and viable way to get rid of them. However, you should only handle raccoons and opossums if you are an experienced handler. If you are not sure what to do, the best idea is to call an animal removal service. Anteater Pest and Lawn can send a trained professional out to the property to identify, inspect and design a program for you. The Exclusion portion of their Rodent Service is designed to:

- Identify rodent and rodent damage

- Inspect conditions conducive to rodents

- Seal/Close entry and exit points

- Install traps

- Return and remove traps

- Include a 1 Year renewable warranty

Once you are armed with the right facts and materials, you should be able to handle rodents quickly and efficiently before they overstay their welcome in your home and ruin your holidays.

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About Author

Both Elizabeth Rice, Sphr & Fran Phalin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Elizabeth Rice, Sphr has sinced written about articles on various topics from Employment Law, Kitchen Home Improvement and Marketing. Ms. Elizabeth Rice, SPHR, is the President of , a San Diego-based company specializing in payroll and HR administrative serv. Elizabeth Rice, Sphr's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.

Fran Phalin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Get Rid of Bed Bugs, Gardening and Rodent Pest Control. Fran Phalin is a freelance writer and editor specializing in home improvement and things that work. She has worked with Anteater Pest Services to improve the pest problem at her home. Visit. Fran Phalin's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.

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