Virtual Presence - Do I Have It? And by the Way, What is It?

Here is an article for our virtual call center managers that telecommute.

More and more these days, people are starting to work in environments where they are not face-to-face with others. When it comes to co-workers, this applies to telecommuters, to people who work in teams that are geographically distributed, and to people who work with teams that are in low-cost off-shore locations. When it comes to clients and customers, this applies to anyone (whether they are at a large corporation or run their own small business) who interacts with non-local clients and customers.
 
Whenever you have relationships, professional or personal, you have to maintain some level of presence with them. You need a way to keep yourself in their mind, to maintain a rapport, to make sure they think of you when they need whatever it is you want to provide, and to keep them sufficiently vested in the relationship to be willing to help you when you are in need.
 
When you see your coworkers in the office every day, maintaining that presence is easy. However, when you aren’t face to face, your relationship with someone can slowly erode as the out-of-sight-out-of-mind phenomenon can chip away at any level of comfort and familiarity that person has with you. Maintaining that presence virtually requires a new set of skills and techniques that may not even occur to you.
 
Let’s take Stan, a friend of my family who has a great humor mailing list, and frequently sends out some really good ‘funnies’. He really takes the time and effort to maintain this. I replied to one of those emails and happened to include my standard email signature which asks people for their feedback on their challenges with telecommuting and virtual presence. Stan wrote back and told me he didn’t even know what "virtual presence" means.
 
I find this ironic as Stan’s funnies list actually makes him very successful in maintaining his virtual presence with his friends and family. I told him that every time I get an email from him I think of him. His emails keep him up near the top of my mental awareness. If I were to encounter something that would be useful or valuable to him, I’d be more likely to think of him and send him a note than I would other friends of the family who are not as successful in maintaining their virtual presence with me. When I do see Stan in person I feel closer to him and more comfortable, more eager to catch up on his life and plan to see him again.
 
As technologies advance, the people we interact with are less likely to be located in our home town anymore. Having the right skills to maintain your relationships with them is becoming a critical necessity in the business world. And it’s even starting to become, if not necessary, then definitely advantageous, in personal situations.
 
Whether you use the term "virtual presence" or something else, now more than ever you still need the ability to interact with people and successfully maintain your presence in a non-physical (virtual) manner.  There are many different techniques and methods you can use to maintain that virtual presence, if you know what they are.
 
How good is your virtual presence, and is there room for improvement?