From entrepreneurs to educators, there’s barely a sector that can’t utilise the advantages of remote support. Research from the New Jersey Institute of Technology last year showed that 45% of American freelancers alone are working remotely, not including employees and business owners, with advantages such as boosted efficiency, productivity and flexibility as well as less expense all acting as contributing factors to why so many are embracing this way of working.

But remote service and support isn’t a new concept. In fact, it’s an idea that has been practiced for much longer than most people are aware. Photographers with studios in their wagons in the later part of the 19th century would be hired by Kodak to cross state lines to create postcards that would influence travel for both work and leisure. These freelancers were among the first to practice remote working in a loose sense of what we recognise it as today.

Telecommuting was a term first coined in 1973. Jack Nilles, who is sometimes referred to as the Father of remote working first used the phrase whilst he was helping to create a communication system for NASA. A popular Washington Post article titled “Working From Home Can Save Gasoline” was published in 1979, and by the early eighties, the idea was well established.

As technology advanced, personal computers made it easier to work remotely and the birth of laptops made it possible to travel long distances and still connect with colleagues, employers and clients. As remote support services developed to enable conference calling and virtual private networks, the Interagency of Telecommuting Pilot Project was launched in 1992 for government agencies to utilize remote working, which was followed by The National Telecommuting Initiative in 1996.

Finally, mobile phones became more like computers with an extensive memory and capacity for software, allowing individuals across the world to manage their workload from their pocket. In 2013, Google’s Helpouts service launched, offering remote help on plethora of subjects without the questioner having to leave their homes. Moving forward, the popularity of remote working is set to be exponential this century. Since 2005, remote working has increased by 80% according to information from GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics, and the figures continue to increase.

ShowMyPc was developed in 2002 as the need for reliable remote working service and support solutions became a necessity. Our vision was one of simplicity and cost effectiveness for our customers, whether their intentions was personal or professional use. We are enabling millions of monthly users to enjoy the benefits of working remotely for employers, employees and freelancers regardless of their location.