Telecommuting Lawyer from Overseas - VPN?

[jzj687]

Hi Everyone,

So, I'm a lawyer working in Canada and will be moving overseas very soon.

My firm has allowed me to keep my job and telecommute, since 99% of my work is computer-based anyway.

However, certain clients of ours have secure websites/web-portals that only recognize one IP address (my firm's) to grant access to; I can't log in from home.

I have no idea how VPNs work etc. but have heard that term thrown around quite a bit... is that one way of remedying this situation?

Do you guys know how I might be able to log on to such a website?

Thanks

 

[mcnallym]

Isn't really your problem, thats what your companies IT team is for.

You need to speak with your IT team as to how to sort this out as they will be the people that you speak with when having problems.

There are various ways that can be dealt with.

1.) Remote Access VPN into Company and then bounce out to the Client Website so seen coming from Company IP.
2.) Your company uses Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and you basically connect to that to do your work. You then simply connect to the Client site from your Virtual Desktop so would be seen coming from your Companies Office Network anyway.

Would be the way that would suggest looking at with the IT Team.

If your company doesn't have Remote Access VPN or VDI then may struggle to get this done properly, however your company IT will know what resource are available for this, and what isn't.

 

[jzj687]

Boutique firm. Wish they'd hire an IT guy.

Isn't really your problem, thats what your companies IT team is for.

You need to speak with your IT team as to how to sort this out as they will be the people that you speak with when having problems.

There are various ways that can be dealt with.

1.) Remote Access VPN into Company and then bounce out to the Client Website so seen coming from Company IP.
2.) Your company uses Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and you basically connect to that to do your work. You then simply connect to the Client site from your Virtual Desktop so would be seen coming from your Companies Office Network anyway.

Would be the way that would suggest looking at with the IT Team.

If your company doesn't have Remote Access VPN or VDI then may struggle to get this done properly, however your company IT will know what resource are available for this, and what isn't.

 

[mcnallym]

How are you expecting to work remotely, as in connect to the Office or are all the services you need Cloud/Web Based.
Just wandering what you have available to work with.

If there isn't anything at the Office for Remote Working then going to limit as to what can be done.

 

[jzj687]

How are you expecting to work remotely, as in connect to the Office or are all the services you need Cloud/Web Based.
Just wandering what you have available to work with.

If there isn't anything at the Office for Remote Working then going to limit as to what can be done.

Most of my stuff is cloud based. Any documents I need from back home will have to be scanned and emailed to me or something... trying to figure out the best setup.

Also need a way of mimicking my office's IP address since I need to log on to a client's web-based portal but it only lets our office's IP log on. Ugh, getting overwhelmed.

 

[mcnallym]

You don't want to mimic the office ip otherwise the reply traffic gets sent back to the Office and not you, so you won't see the reply traffic.

What you actually need is a way of being able to communicate with your Office and out again. This will also allow you to securely transfer docs between yourself and the Office.

Realistically without an internal IT team then you are going to need to get someone in to design, and then support a solution for you afterwards.

How I would do it is with a Remote Access VPN into the Office. This will need a Firewall/VPN Gateway that can support Remote Access connections, along with allowing you to then bounce back out to the Internet. That way you are seen on the Internet as being at your Office.

 

[satcomer]

First you have to ask your IT work department what VPN server they are using. Then on you Mac you can open System Preferences->Network tab, + sign and a VPN connection then select the connection type and lastly hit 'Apply' to save this new Network plugin.

Also if you are using a Mac to connect to a Mac then may I suggest GreenWorldSoft.com.

 

[8281]

Assuming your client wouldn't permit your IP to connect, it sounds like you'd want to set up a VPN connection between your machine and your office. When you connect via the VPN client, your client's server will think the traffic is coming from your office.

How you do that will depend on what hardware you have in your office. If you have a Windows Server, I think the setup is pretty straightforward. MS posts step by step directions. I assume your office also has a dedicated firewall, in which case you'll also have to configure that hardware as well.