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The term “telecommuting” is frequently confused with the term “teleworking.” Telework is actually a broad term that includes telecommuting, as well as act of working from satellite offices, neighborhood work centers, and mobile working.

Teleworking means, literally, working from a remote location. The four options mentioned above are all variations of telework.

Telecommuting refers to employees who work at home on occasion or on a regular basis and who are connected to the workplace through various telecommunications links that might include a telephone, email, or a computer link to office servers. It’s the use of information and communication technology to work away from what might be considered the traditional work setting. The most common alternative worksite is the employee’s home. Other popular options include telework centers, satellite offices, client offices, hotel rooms, airplanes, trains, and even automobiles.

Satellite offices are facilities that are located at a separate location from the main business headquarters and that house only employees who work for that specific company.

Neighborhood work centers appear to be exactly like satellite offices, but there is one important distinction. While a satellite office would house employees who all work for the same firm, a neighborhood work center includes employees from a variety of different businesses. Neighborhood work centers are most common in large metropolitan areas and provide space for monthly leasing, as well as business equipment such as fax machines and computers.

Mobile workers are employees who really don’t have a specific location where they operate. They may frequently be on the road and may use telecommunications technology to keep in contact with their home office. The most common type of mobile worker is a salesperson.

Another commonly used term is hoteling. Hoteling involves assigning office space to employees who come into the office only occasionally. Rather than being assigned a permanent work area, employees who are hoteling make use of a designated area that they may share with others.

Here are Jack Nilles’s definitions of teleworking and telecommuting:

Teleworking: Any form of substitution of information technologies (such as telecommunications or computers) for work-related travel.

Telecommuting: Moving the work to the workers instead of moving the workers to work; periodic work out of the principal office for one or more days per week, either at home or in a telework center. The emphasis here is on reduction or elimination of the daily commute to and from the workplace.

And, as Nilles points out, since he coined the terms he should know!

Telecommuting is not the all-or-nothing proposition it is often considered. A teleworker is not necessarily someone who works from home 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. In fact, according to the International Telework Association & Council (ITAC), the average number of teleworked days is one to two per week.

Whether working at a satellite office, in a neighborhood work center, or at home, the concept of telework is dramatically expanding the options available not only to employees, but to employers around the world.