AvronW

We're on the verge of moving, but a concern we have is around flexible working.

At the moment we both have flexible (IT) jobs that allow for home working and the option to work a reduced week so as to spend more time with children.

If we move, is it likely we would find things to be similar?

-Avron

scoobydoo

I am a nurse and always was able to work hours of choice to fit in with school hours in the UK. Have been here 9 months now and have not been able to find any agency, hospital etc who accomodate those flexible shifts. Suprising to everyone I speak and to me too as they are meant to be desperate for nurses here!! The only work I found was doctors surgerys and I don't have the relevant experience for that. So it is back to the weekend and night shifts to fit around my husbands work - he never knows when he will be home so it is a pain trying to juggle it.

So in my experience I feel that employers are less likely to be flexible with hours...but I suppose it all depends on what you do.

bondipom

My work is experimenting with home working for a few in IT. They have been given broadband, a laptop and a VOIP softphone. Most workers are not so lucky.

Mrs BPs work refuses to offer flexible conditions despite the place mainly employing women who have a strong tendancy to get up the duff.

sj oldfield

From my own experiance I have discovered the word 'flexible', not in use here in Perth.

My job is supposed to be 20 hours a weekk over 3 and 1/2 days......more like 5 days a week, working at least 6 hours a day.

When I queried this I was advised that as my position was 'casual' I was really at their beck and call!!!!

Banksia

Do you mean the Engin Softphone? I gave up on that pretty quickly and went to the Voice Box. A little more expensive but much better.

A great way to keep in touch with the rest of the English speaking world at 5 cents a minute. And more convenient not being tied to the computer.

bondipom

Cisco softphone to connect to a cisco VOIP system. This connects the person directly to the companies phone system via a VPN over the internet. This means she can phone work and join the call centre qs for the price of the bandwidth. She has ADSL at home which provides a big enough internet connection. VPN is method of linking the work laptop to the company network.

For us VOIP is great when both sides are on the system. As most have unlimited internet in the UK it is free for them. It depends on the deal with the ISP here.

Banksia

Ok. Different deal. The Engin voicebox allows you to plug any existing telephone into it and call anyone over the internet even if the called person is not on the internat at all. Basically you are using ordinary phones (including cordless) at both ends of the transaction.

Basically, VOIP for the domestic masses.

Trevglas

I looked into the Engin voicebox, and decided the whole thing was just too expensive, $149 for the box, $19.95/month service fee (ok, $10 (200 minutes)worth of international calls are included) and a rate of 5c/min to the UK, and on top of this is the $26/month line rental PLUS your ISP fees.

I would also think that if you have a home network with 2-3 others all trying to use the net at the same time, the VOIP quality would take a major nosedive. Your comments re the quality of the engin system would be very useful however.

I use Gotalk preselect, get a discount on my line rental when my monthly spend is above $50 (easily done, as I work for a Singapore based company, and 4 x 2 hr conference calls per week soon adds up), and get a rate of 3.89c/min to the UK

Banksia

The $26/month line plus ISP fees rental is not additional, they are what you are paying anyway. You get a second (voice) line for your trouble (including a directory entry) at what amount to $10/month line plus 10c for local calls and calls to capital cities untimed and 10c a minute for country calls.

I'm on cable so I could ditch my normal phone and rely on a mobile only for power outages etc. Or go for the cheapest line rental highest call costs and never make ordinary calls.

I can't imagine all the multiple internet users you allude to would be using your network so heavily 24/7 as to interfere with phone calls.