Friday, May 20, 2011

Telecommuting: When You Cannot be in the Office

This is written for the people who work on a computer every day for their job.

Telecommuting: One definition of telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours.


Being able to telecommute can be a good thing or a bad thing. I am going to focus on telecommuting being a good thing. There are many things in our lives that keep us from being able to get to the office. Sickness, sick kids, bad weather and school holidays are a few things that keep us from being able to get to the office. That does not mean that we cannot work at all, that means it is time to telecommute.


There are many ways that telecommuting or remote access to the office can occur. I am going to talk about two ways that I recommend: VPN and Logmein


VPN: I recommend a VPN connection to the office when a user has a company laptop that they take home on a daily basis. The laptop is maintained by the company and deemed a secure computer. When the user has a secure VPN connection to the office they can work like they do when they are in the office. They can connect to network shares, email and printers. The speed of their connection will be slower than in the office because they are transferring data over the internet rather than over their local office network. However the user can work like they are at the office. If the user can forward their office phone line to their cell phone they can work almost anywhere with a solid internet connection. *NOTE* If the user is going to use a wireless internet connection at a public facility such as Starbucks they need to make sure they have a solid signal. A weak wireless signal will result in a problematic VPN tunnel.


Logmein: I recommend Logmein when a user does not have a company issued laptop that they can take home. Logmein is a software portal that uses a web browser to connect to the users work computer. The user will connect over the internet to their computer at the office. It will be just like they are sitting in front of their office computer. Because the user is just seeing a visual representation of what is really happening on their computer in the office the user will be able to work as fast as when they are sitting in the office. I use the Logmein Central portal for my clients which allows me to assign only one computer or a group of computers to a single person. In the event the person leaves the organization I can remove their Logmein account and they no longer have remote access. If wake on LAN is enabled on the office computer the user can turn on their computer even if it is turned off.


With new software and fast internet connections working from outside the office has never been better. If you would like assistance setting up secure remote access for you or your employees please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.


Adam Bell

Senior Systems / Network Engineer

Sublime Computer Services

We make your technology work


615-942-0850

adam@sublimecomp.com

www.sublimecomp.com