Allow Employees to
Connect to the Network from Home or on The Road
The age of the telecommuter is upon us. Most of us know someone who works from home or
on the road. How do they do it? How do their managers keep in touch with them and let them
know if inventory, schedules, or strategies have changed? What if they're on a sales call
with a customer and they need quick access to information on that's kept on the network?
If the traveling employee has a laptop or the home-based employee has a PC, both can
easily access the office's network by using Dial-Up Networking and Remote Access Service,
which is available in both BackOffice® Small Business Server and Windows®
NT Server.
Using Dial-Up Networking, employees can dial in to the network from any location using
their modem and an analog phone line. They can receive e-mail, desktop faxes, and they can
print files to their local printer, just as they would if they were sitting in the office
next-door.
Remote Access Service (also known as RAS) is a network service where your server,
acting as the "RAS server," answers calls from remote users who dial in using a
modem. The RAS service verifies the user's login information and maintains the dial-up
connection. Users who connect to your Small Business Server or Windows NT Server, can be
running Windows NT® Workstation, Windows 95, or
Windows for Workgroups on their computers.
Think about those days when your employee calls in with a sick baby or a broken-down
car. If they can work from home and still get the job done, it'd be much less of a worry
for you and for them, when life throws you those curveballs.
Or what if your most important client calls you at home on a Sunday and wants to know
the status of their account? Wouldn't it be nice to say "I'll check your account
right now and will call you right back." Now that's customer service.
Once you've got remote access to the network, you'll be able to access the office from
anywhere. Your computer screen can look like you're sitting in the office next-door-even
if you're halfway around the world.
