Duncan Bowker played so much cricket that he wore his knees out keeping wicket for his local team in the Derbyshire and Cheshire league. He had five knee operations over four years, and about six weeks off work each time to recuperate.

You would think that might have stumped his career as a manager for a financial services company, but, thanks to a virtual private network (VPN) that links his home laptop to the office over an encrypted internet connection, Bowker, 40, from Glossop, Derbyshire, has been able to carry on working for the Manchester-based business without a hitch. “I can do my job equally well, and if we need to have a meeting, we just schedule a conference call,” he says.

This is the new world of mobile, flexible working, and it is growing fast. The Office for National Statistics reveals that about 3.2 million people in the UK now “telework” — work all or part of the week from home — and about 250,000 more are doing so every year.

Rapid advances in technology provide real choices in how, and where, we work. They include simple but practical software for collaborating with colleagues and internet-based telephony services, commonly called VoIP, which offer the twin benefits of non-geographic numbers and big cost savings. The driving force is the growing availability of broadband — the lifeblood of remote workers.

“There is a sea change happening now,” says Richard Wolfe-Daimpre, UK director of Citrix Online, a provider of collaborative software. “The old adage, ‘If I can’t see your face, I don’t know you’re working,’ is history.” The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) agrees that momentum is building. It says that 14% of its 250,000 industry members now offer employees the option to telework, a year-on-year rise of more than a quarter.

Richard Wainer, senior policy adviser at the CBI, says: “Employers are realising that offering more flexible working conditions is good for morale and helps with recruitment and retention. But it isn’t suitable for all business sectors.”

For some, teleworking is a life-changing boon. Lucy Gidlow-Jackson, 35, works for a marine publishing and events company in Fareham, Hampshire, but her husband, Mark, is an army major, so they are constantly on the move.

When he was posted to Wiltshire — 85 miles from her office — she thought she would lose her job. Then, she tried a software package that meant she could access her office computer from anywhere with a broadband connection. “It has worked brilliantly,” she says. “I now work three days of the week from home, but I still bring in the biggest wodge of sales for the company. So they are happy, and it saves me a 170-mile commute.” That is particularly important as she is expecting a baby in November.

Gidlow-Jackson uses software called GoToMyPC, from Citrix Online. “I can be sitting in an airport and, provided my work computer is switched on, access all my files and company databases on my laptop over the internet,” she adds. “It has helped me to do my job in Northern Ireland, Aldershot and Birmingham. Soon we’re moving to Edinburgh, but I’m confident about keeping my job.”

Aside from the commuting time saved, there are other tangible benefits for employers. A study conducted last year by Opinion Leader Research for Vodafone found that 46% of employers thought remote workers were more creative. Today’s remote worker can be more organised and better connected than ever. When we spoke, Wolfe-Daimpre had just conducted a collaborative conference call from his home in Majorca. Sixty of his staff participated in it and were able to view files that he has stored on his computer in Falmouth, Cornwall. An example of the global office in operation.

On a smaller scale, the sheer ease of adoption and low costs involved in trying out today’s tools mean self-employed people can readily make drastic changes to their lifestyles. Michael Katz, 35, runs a London-based property website, www.bulgariaventure.com, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, thanks to the popular VoIP telephony service Skype.

“When my Brazilian wife, Gisela, fell pregnant, we moved to Sao Paulo to be closer to her family,” Katz explains. “We realised that with Skype, I could give my UK-based clients a London number that they could use to reach me in Brazil while paying local call rates. It is far cheaper than using landlines or mobiles. And if clients also have Skype, I can talk to them free over the internet.”

As VoIP becomes the telecoms standard, most telephone numbers will no longer be location-specific, which offers a wide variety of work options. Skype is only one of many such services.

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