Remote Control

[danny-pcs]

I'm looking for a remote control tool that'll help us support one-off non-technical customers. It should be as easy as possible for them (nothing to install and configure) and they should be the ones "in control" of the session (i.e. start/terminate the session whenever they like).

Any recommendations?

[nick_asg]

Re: Remote Control

Take a look at Mikogo (http://www.mikogo.com/en/) and CrossLoop (http://crossloop.com/).

You do have to install software, but I've found it to be very simple. Best yet, it's free. There is always WebEx to look into as well.

[danny-pcs]

Re: Remote Control

Thanks for you help Nick, Mikogo looks promising and I haven't checked CrossLoop yet.

[digitalminds]

Re: Remote Control

You should also check out GotoAssist Express at: http://www.gotoassistexpress.com/. The remote support software will allow rebooting into safe mode and being remotely connected. Performance is great!

[LeCutus]

Re: Remote Control

I have been looking at the same sort of technology recently.

Tried using the Zolved system (www.zolved.com) with no real problems. Its also free and based on OpenSource Technology.

Also been looking at the InstanyHouseCall system (www.instanhousecall.com) but that can work out expensive if you have more than 5 connections per month.

Hope this helps.

[Belose]

Re: Remote Control

+1 for GoToAssist Express

In addition to what digitalminds mentioned above (and what I find extremely useful) is Unattended Support.

Great product, but it comes at a price.

[lpopejoy]

Re: Remote Control

TeamViewer. It rocks. No installation on the client side (as in ActiveX - just a simple EXE download from your website.). Unattended remote access possible... Dead simple to use...

[e-ssential]

Re: Remote Control

Dameware is a great piece software. It support ADS integration. It has user roles and a gateway. The gateway can be install in the DMZ (or not) depending what you are looking for. You can manage who has access to a site where you can organize your customer and computers.(ummm security and control) They even has a trial period and use perpetual licensing. The only issue I encounter though was that in order to start a session, the user must give you permission. If you provide managed services, this may or may not be good. In our case, we provide different SLA agreements. If a customer request after hour services (such as Upgrade and Auditing) then we must take over the pc remotely. At which point it is game over for us and damewe. They told me that in the next release that will be fixed. I like managing who has access to my customer's desktop. You never know. Technicians come and go and you never know what they can do to your customers' little "puters" when they leave ... YUP. Go on and check them out!

[stsanford]

Re: Remote Control

Used to use UltraVNC SingleClick, which was a decent free solution. It's for PC only though and it doesn't play real well with Vista, so I recently went Bomgar. It's not as good as I would like in terms of reporting, you can't link to an individual host and save a shortcut to Commit, which I would love, but other than that, it's awesome, you can "pin" a client so that you can get back unattended, works with Macs, Linux and Windows clients. Not bad. Certainly not cheap, but not bad....

[aaspeer]

Re: Remote Control

I currently use Bomgar. It was a one time fee for the box, and although I have stopped paying for their support, they do offer support with free express exchange if you have any issues with the hardware. What I think is so great about it is the fact that I own the hardware and I control it.

Austin Speer
Onward iT

[wtbservices]

Re: Remote Control

This may be of interest if you are just about to purchase something. I recently did the trial for LogMeIn Rescue. It is a really nice full featured product but... It is a bit pricey and it is designed around the concept of a tech siting there continuously taking one remote support call after another.

After the trial was over a sales guy called to see how things went. I mentioned that it was a much more than we needed for the volume we had (about 4 or 5 remote sessions a day). Many of it's time tracking and tech tracking features would be useless to us. He told me that he couldn't say much right now but what we needed was in development and testing right now. He said that he would call me back after the first of the year and if we could wait that long they might have a perfect fit.

We can get by with what we use now for another month and a half and having used LMI before it is worth waiting to see what they have to offer.

[sapsford]

Re: Remote Control

logmein rescue wins
costs $100 or so a month
i charge each customer $10 when i use it - for the priviledge of quick support
means i can bill in 15mins
also you can build a custom app that is installed on their computer for future reference
pays for its self 4 x per month

[wtbservices]

Re: Remote Control

More info on the new LogMeIn program.
They have a free beta up that you can use to test it out at http://www.logmein.com/express. It is a bit clunky and talking a customer through getting it going and getting you connected can be a challenge.

Looks like they are attempting a direct competitor to GotoAssist Express but it just doesn't have the same features. I need to get this expense in under the 2009 tax year so I am going to go ahead with GotoAssist Express and then revisit the options next December.

[Yaredo]

Re: Remote Control

I second Sapsford.
It is just smart

[wtbservices]

Re: Remote Control

If anyone here is a member of The ASCII Group they are finalizing a deal with LogMeIn to get a discounted rate for its members.