Many people do not know that it is now possible (and extremely easy) to connect RS232 serial devices directly to a network and communicate with the device from any other workstation in the network just as if it were connected to a local RS232 serial port on the back of your PC. The trick is to use a "Serial Device Server". You simply plug the serial device into the Serial Device Server, connect it to your network and then install a special "Virtual Serial Port" driver in any workstation where you want to communicate with the device. Hardware based Serial Device Servers are available from a number of manufacturers for under $150. TALtech also has a software product called TCPCom that is designed to turn a PC into a Serial Device Server or act as a Virtual Serial Port driver for any hardware based Serial device server.
For a more complete explanation of how Serial Device Servers work, please visit:
http://www.taltech.com/resources/tcpip.htm

For more details about TCPCom or to download a fully functional demo version, visit:
http://www.taltech.com/products/tcpcom.html