Whether your organization is implementing teleworking - or "telecommuting," as it´s also called - as a means of connecting disparately located employees, such as field sales representatives, or as a means of reducing overhead by allowing certain employees to work from home, the challenges faced by IT managers in making it all happen are many and varied.
The situation is magnified by the simple fact that teleworking is becoming increasingly more common. There are approximately 19.6 million teleworkers in the North America today according to an independent survey sponsored by the International Telework Association and Council. The same study projects 12-15% compounding annual growth in the number of telecommuters and an increasing diversity in the types of employers and job types involved.
Although teleworking has, in the past, been seen by many as primarily an "employee benefit," such as flex-time, or a compressed workweek, the current economy has led many organizations to implement a telework model for certain employees as a way to reduce costs on office space and other stranded costs. The events of September 11th have also led many individuals and organizations to reduce work-related travel, another driver for increased teleworking.
Because of the overwhelming prevalence of broadband connectivity in traditional office settings, an implicit component of "real" teleworking today is that it is broadband. Thus, delivering the same robust level of broadband connectivity to the small office/home office (SOHO) environment as that experienced in the "regular" office is the job at hand - and it can be a challenging one.
A typical brief might look like this: your workforce is scattered across the region (or the nation), and terrestrial high-speed service (i.e. cable and or DSL) reaches less than half of them. How can you provide your teleworkers fast, secure access and get the uniform level of service and support you need?
The answer may be broadband via satellite.
Because satellite connectivity is not dependent on in-the-ground terrestrial infrastructure, users are not subject to the differences between offerings of local cable or telephone companies, including pricing, performance degradation over distance, and service area availability. Indeed many operators still haven´t developed a sound business case for running their broadband gear to your location. In contrast, satellite offers no such barriers on service. If you want broadband via satellite, you can get it anywhere.
Although availability, or the lack thereof, is perhaps the most profound differentiator when considering satellite broadband versus terrestrial, there are also other important issues to consider when securing business-class Internet protocol (IP) connectivity with enhanced networking capability. Chief among them are reliability and security.
Satellite solutions, such as Direcway´s Teleworker Services, operate over a standardized platform and allow enterprises to deploy a teleworker program quickly and reliably while decreasing the ongoing costs of maintaining a remote network. In terms of overall network security, satellite offers business users static IP addresses that are necessary to maintain network integrity on virtual private networks (VPNs). In addition, all data delivered over the network is encrypted for each unique satellite modem. Many cable systems preclude use of static IP addresses by users, and VPN clients as well. Conversely, satellite is compatible with most widely used VPN clients - offering faster speeds than dial-up and always-on access.
Satellite can be a great choice for organizations that want to provide teleworkers with a cost-effective, reliable broadband connection. It is available anywhere in the North America and can interface with secure VPN technology on a common platform, and offers ubiquitous service. Satellite teleworking solutions also excel in the provision of e-Learning, business audio and video streaming, file distribution, and can be combined with affinity programs for family high-speed public Internet access.
