Touching base
The easiest way to keep in touch with your business while abroad is through your mobile phone. Most newer handsets are already enabled for roaming, but if unsure, ring your mobile operator to check before leaving the country. Once this is set up, you should be able to make and receive calls and send text messages from most countries.
Making international phone calls on your mobile is an expensive business. Many mobile operators charge you for receiving calls while abroad, as well as making them. Surfing the internet on a 3G phone can be incredibly costly, too. There are numerous accounts of mobile phone users unknowingly racking up bills of over a thousand euro, after using their phones to access the net while abroad. Consult your mobile operator or broadband provider about tariffs before you travel.
If you will need to make calls but wish to keep costs down, think about buying a calling card and using a public phone. You can also use a PC to make phone calls, once you have an internet connection and a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service.
One particularly popular and easy-to-use VoIP service is Skype. To use it you must install an application on your computer, purchase credit from Skype and plug in a headset. Once set up you can make international calls at a fraction of the normal cost. Some internet cafes will have Skype installed for use. But if you are relying on your own mobile internet connection, you will incur data charges on top of the fee Skype charges.
If you would rather the convenience of using your own handset while abroad, there are some services that offer low-cost options. Rebtel, for example, allows you to use a local SIM card to make international calls at local rates.
Email options
If email is important to you while away, you can use a 3G-enabled phone to access the internet, and your email, once roaming is enabled. Yahoo, Hotmail and Google all provide email applications that can be downloaded to your internet-enabled mobile phone, and accessed from a location that has appropriate coverage.
Newer devices, like a Blackberry or a smartphone, are designed to allow users to make calls and access the internet while travelling internationally. However, if you are travelling outside Europe, or using an old device, you should ask your supplier before you travel which regions your particular device will function in.
Mobile office
Many hotels, cafes and libraries offer free or low-cost Wi-Fi hotspots, allowing you to surf the internet with your laptop. The level of security at these hotspots can vary, however. Always be careful about what types of file you send over the net. You should also turn off file-sharing on your laptop and set your system preferences so that other users cannot connect to your PC without your permission.
If you don't want to bring your laptop away with you, smartphones and PDAs are handy for writing documents, editing spreadsheets and drafting presentations. If you plan on doing a lot of typing using these devices, think about getting a wireless keyboard. You could also use a memory card to boost the capacity of your chosen device.
If you want to travel light but still retain some of the functionality of a laptop, it may be worth your while to invest in one of the new ultra-portable laptops on the market, such as the Asus Eee PC or the HP UMPC.
Whatever sort of device you bring, always ensure your files are password protected and backed-up, in case your device is stolen or lost.
Online applications
If you want to travel even lighter and not bring any equipment, you can always use an internet cafe or hotspot to access online office applications. These software programs allow you to work on your documents from any PC once you have an internet connection.
Jooce allows you to drag files onto a Flash-based desktop environment, for online storage. When you visit your Jooce desktop from another PC, the files will be there for you to continue working on.
Google Docs is an online word processor, presentation tool and spreadsheet designer. You can even set it up so that multiple users can work on the same document at once. This means that someone in your office, for example, can instantly see the changes you make to a document while you work abroad. Adobe Acrobat offers a similar service.
As convenient as these tools are, for security and privacy reasons you should never store or send very sensitive company information over the net in this way.
Remote desktop
If you really need to have access to your desktop while away, there are several options available. Your IT provider can help you decide what level of functionality you need.
If you use several different computers, you might consider getting the MobileMe service, recently launched by Apple. It automatically syncs contacts and calendar appointments with your iPhone and with your various computers - even those using Windows. MobileMe also offers several gigabytes of online storage, allowing you to access your documents from any location. However, the application is not free and the only smartphone it will sync with is Apple's.
If you would rather access the files on your computer directly, you could use a product like GoToMyPc. This allows you to access files, programs and emails on your computer from a web browser or wireless device. A free demo can be downloaded from GoToMyPc.com.
If you have an internal network set up in your office, you could use a virtual private network (VPN) to access it while away. This allows you to tunnel through a public network, such as the internet, and establish a link with your office. You can encrypt and securely send and receive voice, data and video through the VPN.
If you want the full experience of your desktop while abroad, one option is Citrix Xen Desktop. The program provides a virtualised version of your desktop, meaning you can access all of your documents, applications and settings from a remote PC.
You should decide how important security, cost and ease of use are before choosing a particular method of communication while abroad. The right tool can help you spend less time trying to get in touch with the office and more time doing whatever it is you travelled for.