Millions of people around the world have already unchained themselves from their office desks to work at home - or any other place they see fit. Some spend a day or two away from the office every month, while others hardly ever come in.

A recent study by WorldatWork, an organization for American human resources professionals, showed that 16 percent of teleworkers in the US had access to wireless internet, nearly twice the proportion among the total US adult population.

In 2006, 67 percent of home-based employees used broadband, up from 51 percent in 2005, WorldatWork reported.

Technology solutions such as those offered by Ericsson's Mobility Solutions portfolio help operators better serve enterprises with large mobile workforces. Ericsson's One Phone concept, Mobile Extension, and Mobility Gateway are among the technologies operators look to.

In the past year, demand for mobile broadband solutions has soared in the enterprise segment as more and more companies seek to accommodate off-site employees, says Torbjörn Lundmark, director of Portfolio Management at Ericsson Enterprise.

"What we see more and more is that companies want to integrate mobile phones and computers wirelessly with the network and connect them to the office," he says.

The newfound workplace flexibility presents opportunities as well as challenges for companies that choose to go with the flow.

One US government agency, the Maryland Department of Transportation, reported that productivity surged 27 percent when 100 employees were allowed to work from their homes.

AT&T, the big US telecommunications provider, reported a few years ago that it was saving USD 100 million annually after some of its employees began working remotely, according to one teleworking advocacy group.

But companies that implement telecommuting policies could also become more vulnerable to security breaches, and hidden costs associated with supporting remote access services.

Lundmark says he is seeing demand for security solutions increase as well.

Many companies today, for example, need help with external firewalls, or with applications that "kill" company e-mail and other proprietary information in mobile phones that have been lost or stolen, he says.