Homeworking

[ableseaman]

Our organisation is now looking at homeworking initially for around 50 employees. The requirement will be to service these employees with a laptop so to gain access to backend systems. Telephony will be provided via a Nortel 1100 series IP Handset or i2050 IP Softphone. Connectivity will be via ADSL. In addition some of these employees will be Contact Centre agents accessing CC6.

We currently have a Cisco ASA 5510 VPN to service the small number of remote workers currently in place via Client based IPSec/SSL VPN. These workers don’t have telephony requirements. We will be looking to service these new homeworkers via the ASA.

Just looking for any advice from others who have experience with a similar requirement - namely what have they deployed at the homeworking end? I have read that the Nortel BSR222 is a “proven” solution but our Nortel rep highlighted that this product is likely to become MD as they don’t see a big market for it. In addition the BSR222 has an Ethernet WAN presentation so would need additional kit to provide the connectivity to the ADSL line.

Our budget is limited for testing so just looking for guidance on a proven or reliable set-up that provides a secure VPN tunnel between the homeworker and ASA at our main site.

Sorry if a bit high level, the VPN side of things isn't my forte

[Michael McNamara]

We've actually deployed a number of field trials some utilizing a hardware approach and and some utilizing a software apporach.

Hardware Solution:
 - BRS222
 - 1150e IP phone
 - HP Laptop

Software Solution:
 - HP Laptop
 - i2050 IP phone
 - Juniper SSL VPN (Network Connect)
 - Private PKI certificates (Windows Certificate Server)

In terms of cost the software solution was more cost effective than the hardware solution. To date we have about 2 hardware solutions deployed and around 15 software solutions deployed. The software solution has been very successful with a few caveats.

 - YOU MUST LOCK DOWN THE LAPTOP
 - Users must have either Comcast, Optimum Online or Verizon FiOS broadband access (no DSL)

We've found that users with DSL service would consistently have quality and/or connectivity issues. In the end we now require either the user to have either Comcast or Verizon FiOS broadband in order to participate in the work from home program. We also found that locking down the laptop is a must in order to maintain the service for our Contact Center users. It's not so much an issue for our non Contact Center users.

We also found that the need for some type of remote control is an absolute must when supporting these users. We currently use the Secure Meeting feature of the Juniper SSL VPN along with Bomgar.

With all that said there are now some additional options... the UVC (UNIStim VPN Client) built into the 1100 series IP phones allows the phone to connect to the Call Server directly through it's own VPN tunnel (no additional hardware required on the client side).  This might be an option if you are a Citrix shop and can utilize Citrix Secure Gateway to allow home users to connect from their home personal computers for access to their applications.

Good Luck!