For several decades executives have recognized the significant cost and productivity advantages associated with remote workers. In the 80s and 90s, the expense of providing full support and integration of telecommuters into the corporate environment offset much of the projected cost advantages.

Today, with the high penetration of broadband in the home coupled with advances in internet-based telecommunications systems such as Hosted PBX solutions, migrating employees from office workers to remote workers is not only cost-effective, it has also become a high priority with a large percentage of companies. Getting employees out of the office workspace and into their home office workspace can yield immediate savings according to a study by the International Telework Association and Council. If you walk into almost any business office, you can generally find empty desks. An empty desk is a sure sign that you have a remote worker candidate. The study by the Telework Association found that a company could save about $10,000 per year for each recovered desk space.

Businesses with remote worker initiatives also benefit from increased productivity and improved employee satisfaction. The European Union