Linking to the Office from Home

How are you doing it?

[dvduval]

The two requirements that I have personally:
1. I must be able to call and receive telephone calls in the company's phone system.
2. I must be able to have access to the server and use our sales software, as well as access shared company documents.

Our current telecommunications company, XO communications has offered us a package that is nearly the same price as we are paying now (about $1500/month) with cutting edge VOIP technology. Apparently they are saying that we can integrate outside lines into our phone system (i.e. my home phone or a hotel in Miami Beach). The only condition is there must be a fast connection at the other end. I have a fast connection. This is the first step in my devious plan to work from home.

The second step will need to involve me having the ability to access the server at work. We got a quotation for installing Citrix last year, but the cost was around $20,000 for a new server, licences for software, and Citrix. So my question, what options do I have to set up a terminal with server access?

Hopefully, there is something I can do that costs a lot less than $20,000. Something like remotely anywhere is possible, but it would be better if I didn't have to tie up one of the terminals at the office. In addition, it would be nice to be able to repeat this solution for other employees.

[dingman]

I'm not sure how it works when the desktop being accessed is Windows, but you might look into VNC. I use it to access my home machine from work, and it's $20,000 cheaper than Citrix ;)

[andreasfriedrich]

It works just fine ;)