Setting up security with a 'locked-down' PC

15.05.2006
On the harshest winter days, call center agent Charles Gunsolley works from his Denver home, booking vacations for others bound for warm and exotic destinations.

Call it ironic that Gunsolley -- an agent for Honolulu-based Outrigger Hotels & Resorts -- is just grateful that he doesn't have to commute in the snow. "The fun part of working from home is not having to stand out in the cold waiting for a bus," he says.

Gunsolley, however, battles more than the elements. "I am legally blind. It would be more difficult to keep my employment with Outrigger if I could not work from home. Transportation can be challenging to manage, and there are often other environmental problems at work, such as lighting. These can be more easily addressed with my own personal work space at home."

Gunsolley's home office is outfitted with equipment supplied entirely by Outrigger, which ships "locked-down" PCs to its at-home employees. "The biggest challenge is to ensure the security of our legacy system, a reservation application that is core to our business and integral to the work our call center agents perform every day," says Bill Peters, vice president of reservation systems.

Ultimately, the company plans to develop a Web-based graphical user interface to the reservation system, eliminating the need to ship secured PCs. The company also provides at-home workers with IP desktop phones from Echopass Corp. in Pleasanton, Calif.