Qwest talks a different kind of mobility

Most of the preset rules involve the common concerns such as social security numbers, “but we can make one-time modifications for our customers for a one-time charge,” Capurro said, that would let them set rules specific to their enterprise.

The second new service, Qwest Teleworker, is aimed more at road warriors and also includes client software. Qwest is working with Fiberlink, whose Fiberlink Mobility Platform includes more than 71,000 global WiFi hot spots and more than 1500 hotels worldwide. Fiberlink provides a software agent to manage connectivity from the laptop and a Web-based capability for IT policy configuration and enforcement.

By centrally managing the Internet connections traveling employees use, a company can track those expenses as a single item rather than many multiple expense-based filings, Capurro said. “We manage authentication for individual users and then aggregate that information and bill it back to the administrator.”

When a traveling employee checks into the hotel, for instance, the graphic user interface on their laptop will show the WiFi and wired options. The administrator can set policies that require users to use the least expensive connection or prevent them from using unsecured free WiFi, Capurro said. “You can build that logic into the tool,” he said. The Qwest service doesn’t currently include EVDO wireless, but if a traveling worker has a subscription and an EVDO card, the Qwest Teleworker service will support policy-enforcement on that service as well.

A personal firewall is built in, along with the anti-virus, anti-spam features of either the corporation involved or Qwest, depending on the customer’s choice.

The services are being priced to appeal to all range of businesses and bring these capabilities to companies that previously couldn’t afford them, Capurro said.

“We are very much trying to find out how to take some of these interesting solutions and bring them within reach of market segments that previously couldn’t afford them,” he said. “And for larger companies, we can do very custom engagements.”