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As companies see the benefits of telecommuting, technology tools have emerged to support the needs of a mobile workforce.

Since the '80s, telecommuting has been championed as a better way of working. The phenomenon, which has been somewhat slow to catch on, is called by many names: remote working, telecommuting, teleworking, web working and open working (to name a few), but it's increasingly being adopted by companies all over the world. Globally, there will be a mammoth 46 million telecommuters by 2011, according to Gartner. What's happened to push web working into the mainstream enterprise? In part, its the recession. Companies are realizing that implementing flexible working policies can mean a reduction in real estate costs and overheads. But it's not just the recession. With the explosion of high-speed broadband, mobile devices and online tools, the technology exists to actually make it happen for a large percentage of the workforce.