Remote access offers individuals the opportunity to work from home or the location of their choice, rather than being tethered to an office cubicle all day long. For the first time in history, telecommuters are enjoying the fulfillment of a full-time career in their chosen field without having to sacrifice the freedom and flexibility of being away from a traditional office setting. Employees can put in a full day’s work and still have the time and availability to be there for their families.

Employers love remote access too- allowing employees to work remotely can cut down on the costs of an office space, as well as boost productivity and overall job satisfaction among the staff. Provided employees can stay on task and manage their time efficiently, working remotely has a long list of advantages for business owners and staff members alike.

Remote Access for Your Business

If you are interested in setting up your small business to allow for remote access, you may be wondering how it all works. After all, employees aren’t simply able to access their office desktops and files using magic. What do you need to know about remote access in order to get it up and running for your employees?

The first step is to set up a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN is a secure virtual network that enables remote users to log in and access the same programs and files that are available to everyone on the company server. The VPN offers an extra layer of data security by replacing the user’s IP address with one from the VPN provider. This allows users to obtain an IP address from any gateway city provided by the VPN service, which prevents the interception of sensitive data that is traveling from your company network to that of your remotely-located employee.

Once you have a good VPN in place, your next step is to have employees use RDP (remote desktop protocol) to connect to your company’s network. The RDP enables a user to create a virtual desktop that is identical to the graphical user interface on the company’s network. This means that if you are at home, you can establish a VPN connection and sign into your RDP client and your home computer will basically turn into your work computer, in terms of what you are able to see and access on your screen. The RDP client is completely secure, with properties including encryption, bandwidth reduction and smart card authentication to protect sensitive data. RDP client software can be downloaded for either Windows or Mac OS, making it something that can be used by virtually everyone who owns a home computer and has a reliable Internet connection.

If you run into problems setting up a VPN or establishing RDP connections for your employees, many IT firms offer remote access IT support for a small monthly fee. Ask Baseline IS about remote access IT support and how we can assist you.

Contact Baseline IS for Remote Access for Your Business!

Remote access opens a lot of doors that didn’t even exist just 20 years ago. People who would have otherwise had to put their careers on hold due to life circumstances can now enjoy the fulfillment of a full-time professional career without having to sacrifice a healthy balance for home and family. By providing the opportunity for your employees to work remotely, you are giving them the freedom and flexibility to do their best work on their own time frame, while maintaining the level of quality and productivity you need to keep your small business running at the top of its game. Ask our experts at Baseline IS how we can help!