At the remote edges of the network is another branch office known as enterprise tele-workers. Cisco developed a solution called Cisco Virtual Office Solution, which was de-signed with the enterprise teleworker in mind. As organizations continually try to reduce
costs and improve employee productivity, working from home is becoming an increas-ingly popular option for businesses and organizations. This approach allows employees to
manage their work schedules more effectively and increase their productivity. This also re-sults in greater job satisfaction and flexibility in the work schedules. The work-from-home
teleworker is an extension of the enterprise and serves as the basis for the enterprise tele-worker solution.
Enterprise teleworkers need to be differentiated from the occasional remote worker. The
full-time enterprise teleworker has more extensive application access and requirements
than the occasional remote worker. Occasionally, remote users connect to the corporate
network at a hotspot, but generally they do not have the same application demands of an
enterprise teleworker. Generally, enterprise teleworkers connect to a local ISP through a
cable or DSL connection in their residence.
The Cisco Virtual Office Solution for the Enterprise Teleworker is implemented using the
Cisco 800 series ISRs. Each ISR has integrated switch ports that then connect to the user’s
broadband connection. The solution uses a permanent always-on IPsec VPN tunnel back
to the corporate network. This architecture provides for centralized IT security manage -ment, corporate-pushed security policies, and integrated identity services. In addition,
this solution supports the enterprise teleworker needs through advanced applications such
as voice and video. For example, the enterprise teleworker can take advantage of toll by-pass, voicemail, and advanced IP phone features not available in the PSTN.
ISRs for Teleworkers
Cisco 860 and 880 series offers in