Help the Helpless with Remote Computer Control

If you run a helpdesk for a technology company and don't use computer remote control software, then you're missing out. Your average call times are probably longer and your clients will often be exasperated with the instructions they're fed over the phone. Let us not forget that more than one person has mistaken his CD ROM for a cup holder in the past and that these same people are the ones calling your help lines.

Remote computer control will allow your helpdesk personnel to perform remote administration of these clients' computers, allowing them to fix any problems, install any necessary patches, and generally get things working without the client having to do anything. Computer remote control products, such as SupportDesk Pro, Linktivity, or SupportAnyPC also generally include desktop sharing capabilities, so that the helpdesk person could conceivably do a quick visual demo on how to use some aspect of the product on the client's own computer, which is more effective than explaining something step-by-step over the phone.

Computer remote control software can therefore—and has been shown to—significantly reduce call times and overall helpdesk costs, so waste no time in adopting it as part of your helpdesk strategy today.

Integrate Your Supply Chain

According to the prestigious Harvard Business Review, “In today's highly volatile and competitive markets, supply chain leadership separates the winners from the losers.” Thus making your supply chain flexible, responsive, and agile will undoubtedly improve the future of your business.

The most important step to bringing your supply chain into the 20th century is through systems integration. Supply chain computer systems integration has been has saved US corporations billions of dollars, so if your company has not yet taken this important step, you should waste no time in contacting consulting firms specializing in supply chain integration.

Furthermore, you should start worrying about remote systems integration for your clients and suppliers. Even if your supply chain is fully integrated and streamlined internally, if your suppliers cannot access critical parts of the system and vice versa, your organization will not be as responsible as it could be at its best.

Successful supply chain integration will determine the best companies of the coming century, so don't let your organization fall behind.

Let the CIA Protect Your Data

If you're obsessed with remote access security and really securing your mission critical data, then you should consider using SELinux.

SELinux was developed in part by the CIA specifically with remote security in mind. Even if hackers manage to gain access to the system itself, the damage they will be able to do will be incredibly localized. In fact, it is possible to secure data on an SELinux system so that, even with an administrator's username and password, a malicious hacker will not be able to gain access.

The disadvantage to using an SELinux-based server is that your sysadmin must understand how to use it. If security is of utmost importance to your organization, then you probably already have a very talented system administrator, and for a small fee you can get them trained to run SELinux-based servers.

Remote Quickbooks

Sitting in a hotel room, alone, on a business trip, and want to go over your finances but don't have your QuickBooks file on you? If you had remote desktop software installed and your home or office PC containing the QuickBooks documents were online, you could actually do you remote QuickBooks work!

In general, remote desktop software can be used to run any application on a remote computer that has the appropriate software installed and can receive remote desktop sharing connections. However, WebEx has put together a solution specifically for QuickBooks that allows you to easily do remote finance and accounting from anywhere in the world.

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Automatic Updates

One of the most time-consuming aspects of system administration is performing mass software deployment updates on the set of systems being administered. Sysadmins are therefore pretty excited about software products that have an auto-update feature built into them, as it saves a great deal of their time.

If you want a sysadmin to push his company to adopt your software, you would be wise to include such a feature. Fortunately, you don't have to write the code from scratch, as products such as Zero G's PowerUpdate make adding that capability much easier.

Automatic software updating is sweeping the industry and saving an enormous amount of time and money on mass it deployment, and soon enough any software not including the feature will have a difficult time being adopted by the corporate world.

Wired Desktop Sharing? Hardly.

Still using one keyboard, one mouse, multiple computers, and a switch to administer each one individually? Then have a good time with that, and your 8-tracks, Amiga console, and Dalorian.

The way to use one console for remote administration of multiple consoles these days is through by setting up a remote desktop. With remote desktop sharing, you can have multiple computers, setup anywhere in the world—and not just within wire's reach of your keyboard switch—and can be working on your console of choice but administering each of the remote systems as you wish, or even all of them simultaneously!

As an added bonus, desktop sharing technology also allows you to provide remote assistance to the computers under your care. So give up the old ways and come to the 21st century's solution for multi-system desktop management.

Use Video Conferencing for Presentations

Finding that big conference calls aren't providing the communicative power needed to express your complex ideas? If the purpose of a conference call or internet chat is primarily to give a one-way presentation, such as a seminar, then you may want to consider a video conference instead.

Video conferencing over the internet has become cheap and very easy. Computer video cameras and microphones can be picked up at any computer store, and internet video conferencing software such as Microsoft's NetMeeting is free. You can broadcast your presentation to any sized audience, providing that everyone has a broadband internet connection.

A visual presentation and explanation of your material can be a much more effective way to communicate than over a phone, so next time you have to explain yourself to a group give it a whirl and see how much more effective you can be.

Soup Up Your Helpdesk with Desktop Remote Control

Don't know what desktop management has to do with your helpdesk team? Then your team is operating less efficiently than it could be.

A study from WebEx has found that tech support related call time is drastically reduced when the helpdesk can use remote desktop management software to perform desktop remote control of a client's malfunctioning box. The reason is that the helpdesk personnel can simply log onto the client machine and make a direct diagnosis rather than asking a long series of canned questions according to a helpdesk Q&A form to arrive at a diagnosis.

WebEx is not the only remote desktop software on the block, however, as there are a slew of others that claim industry leadership, including those from NetworkStreaming, Semantic, Linktivity, LogMeIs, 3amlabs, and others. The best solution for your helpdesk depends on the software you're trying to support, but probably any product offered by these companies will be sufficient for most common desktop remote control needs.

Providing Technical Support is Good Business

Don't provide online technical support for your product? Then unless you have a good 24-hour help desk, a toll-free 800 number, and a slew of operators, then you're probably alienating current customers and intimidating future customers who like to know that help will available to them when something goes awry. You can provide simple IT support in the form of web forms for free on your web site, and simply allow employees to check message from time to time as they appear. Though not flashy, allowing even the most basic communication with customers such as this will help you keep current customers and bring in new customers who get to see “24-7 online support” on your company's front page.

Vendor Specific Remote Healthcare IT Support

If you're concerned about remote healthcare it support or remote hospital it support, then you should check with the manufacturers of the healthcare products used by your organization, as many manufacturers provide software or solutions to administer software and even hardware remotely.

For instance, if your organization uses any of the popular Varian healthcare products, then that same company offers a simple solution for your remote healthcare it needs. Their SmartConnect software suite allows for remote support and administration of their healthcare hardware and software solutions and can be used to maximize the uptime of all of your Varian systems.

To ensure that your systems stay online as much as possible, it's worth doing the research as to which of the healthcare products you use may be administered remotely.