>Seems to me there are a few options such as:
>
>1.) PC Anywhere connection of the remote users.
>2.) Citrix Metaframe - interesting stuff, never used it and
> don't know the cost
>3.) A web enabled application.
>
>Sounds like 3 is the way to go but consider this. The client
>does not have anything more than a standard AOL account to send
>and recieve e-mail. Do you need a static IP address for this all
>to work? Can the users just dial in and connect to an intranet
>type site?

I have some work-at-home users that use the remote access capabilities built in to Win95/98/NT. There is really no need to focus on how far away the users are because these days it is fairly irrelevant. What matters is the expense of dialup anyone is willing to pay for. I have used my standard ISP account to connect to any IP enabled server without obtaining a static IP address. However, if you will need access to a company intranet, you will need a static IP address that can be added to the access list of valid IP addresses. We also have a toll-free number to use for remote access login to our office LAN.

The major point, IMHO, is how you develop the app. For web, modem or dialup access, you need to consider minimizing as much as possible how much data is moved over the phone lines. Also, design so you have the app installed on the local computer and have the remote server do as much of the data retrieval processing done as possible [e.g., where possible, use SQL that includess most or all the filtering instead of doing a somewhat general data retrieval then applying a filter on the returned data set].