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Mobile and Virtual Office Connections
Providing information and support to employees that work out of the office can often be challenging. Many businesses now have to think about global markets and logistics, and to be competitive, companies need to be where their clients want them, when they need them.Organizations need to make sure their mobile employees are properly equipped and trained to take care of those clients or in the long run, someone else will.
In some cases owners and managers do not have a good understanding of all the tools necessary to make the travelling professional operate effectively. Mobile employees must be able to connect from any location and have the capabilities of working remotely.
Some common tools would include, the portable computer or laptop, and hand-held PDA’s (Palm Pilot, Blackberry, or iPAQ). Often mobile employees require both – a laptop for doing regular production work and the PDA for organizing and scheduling. In addition, mobile employees will also carry cellular phones or pagers that allow two-way email. With the right connectivity resources in the main office, mobile employees can access company resources as effectively as being back in the office.
Although having the right tools is important, employees must also have an understanding of the different connection technologies and should plan for an alternate connection if necessary.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
With widespread company facilities, mobile employees,
and home offices, a way to maintain fast, secure and reliable communications
is vital. Many companies are now creating their own VPN (virtual
private network) to accommodate these needs.
A VPN uses a public network like the Internet, to connect remote sites
or mobile users together. However it uses a “virtual” connection
instead of a dedicated connection such as a leased line. Basically, VPN
is routed through the Internet from a company's private network to the
remote site or mobile employee.
A well-designed VPN can be a huge advantage for a company by…
- Improving Security
- Improving Productivity
- Extending Geographic Connectivity
- Reducing Operational Costs
- Reducing Transit Time and Transportation Costs
- Providing Broadband Networking Compatibility
And a well-designed VPN should incorporate…
- Security
- Reliability
- Scalability
- Network management
- Policy management
When using VPN, companies should create security standards. Compression and size of data transfers also becomes important as delays and failures when transferring data can distract users and negatively impact productivity.
We appreciate that mobile connectivity may sound complex, but supporting your mobile employees is easier than you think.
Forvan Technology Services Inc would be pleased to discuss your options and guide you in the right direction, please contact us for more information.
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