Question:

What are advanced remote access software features that I might need?

Advanced Remote Access Software Features

Semantic has found that company helpdesks that use remote access software save 6-13% on their helpdesk costs, so investing in good remote access software is a sound investment. However, with so many products on the market with such widely varying feature sets and pricing structures, it can be difficult to decide which is right for your business. Important features of good remote access software that are not available in even some of the more expensive products include:
- The ability for the support personnel to administer multiple remote computers at once, referred to as multi-system control
- The ability to log off a remote session and log back in as another user
- The ability to reboot the remote machine and have the session automatically resume after the reboot without requiring a person to physically restart the connection on the remote machine
- Live audio chat through the internet connection These features can save your helpdesk personnel a lot of hassle solving even basic remote administration needs, such as system configuration changes requiring rebooting.

Network Streaming's SupportDesk has all of these features and is priced competitively, but GoToMyPC from WebEx and the popular pcAnywhere from Semantic also have rich feature sets and are among the best commercial remote access products on the market.

Remote Access Frequently Asked Questions

Is your biotech organization becoming inundated with data too numerous to catalogue or make any sense of?

Are you a biotech it company struggling to setup a helpdesk in addition to producing cutting age products for such a dynamic industry?

Tired of receiving phone calls from frustrated relatives who can’t figure out why Outlook Express keeps crashing every time he they try to check their email?

Ever wanted complete computer remote control from anywhere in the world?

What is computer remote control?

Think your organization doesn’t need computer remote control?

How can I save time administering my small to medium sized organization’s computers?

Can I get free technical support online?

Are you providing your staff with good customer support tools?

Don’t provide online technical support for your product?

What is the cheapest way that I can offer support for my company's product offerings?

Tired of spending frustrating hours on the phone with your tech-savvy child trying to fix your computer?

Are you looking for a way to trim your company’s high IT and tech support costs?

How can I enable my company’s machines for remote access cheaply?

What are advanced remote access software features that I might need?

Frustrated that you only have access to your computer when you’re physically right next to it?

How can I help ensure that opening up my LAN to remote access by employees does not end up compromising my entire network?

What is a network appliance?

I saw a “home of the future” on TV that had miles of Ethernet cable; should I put networking cable in my walls?

Should my remote administration software include remote appliance support?

Do you want to run a demonstration on a computer, give a presentation, or simply show a colleague how to do something but are in a different state, country, or even continent?

What is remote desktop sharing?

Does a limited travel budget prevent you from giving a demonstration to many potential customers?

Don't want to leave your mobile employees isolated without tech support for their mission-critical computers?

Wish you could check your email while away from your computer?

Tired of having to type in the same names or find and old email to reply to every time you want to send something to the same old group of people?

Trying to dig out an old, remote email from somewhere in the recesses of your inbox?

Manage Your Automated Responses

How can I provide my remote workers with IT support around the clock?

Are you wasting a lot of office space on workers doing data entry?

Is allowing my network to be administered remotely dangerous?

How can I manage the computer systems of my remote workers?

Is remote access software a large security hole for my company?

What is a VPN?

When should I use an extranet-based VPN?

Is there VPN software available that runs on all of my organization's client platforms?

Trying to find a way to keep your expanding organization feeling close-knit?

Concerned that you’re not going to be a big turnout for your upcoming webinars?

Are video phones really becoming a reality?

Finding that big conference calls aren’t providing the communicative power needed to express your complex ideas?

Is your biotech it department looking for a biotech help desk solution?

Are your helpdesk personnel often at a loss on how to help really helpless clients over the phone?

Don’t know what desktop management has to do with your helpdesk team?

Ever sit at your friend’s computer and wish that you were sitting in front of your own?

What's the best remote desktop management solution for my Apple computer?

How do I create an SSL tunnel to a remote Windows computer to perform desktop management?

Is there a trick to putting the same install configuration on a whole set of similar machines?

How can I package my software for installation in a multi-platform environment?

Is there software the helps me install a program on all the computers for which I'm responsible?

Can I make software installations automatically update themselves?

Can I make the systems in my mass IT deployment update themselves when they need to?

How can I set up and manage a large number of similar system installs?

Does installing remote control software constitute a major security hole?

Can I access data on my home computer when I'm not there?

What are some free software products for controlling a remote PC?

I’ve heard that you can control a computer remotely; so what?

What to start your own technical support company and have a huge advantage on your competition?

Are firewalls, virus scanners, and a secure VPN enough to ensure good remote access security?

Will switching to Linux solve my remote security problems?

Do you allow remote access through telnet?

Trying to keep an eye on your organization at night or while you’re away?

Should I really be nervous about using my credit card online?

How can I really secure my organization’s most sensitive data?

Is using good passwords enough to protect my most private communications?

What can I do to protect my machine from illegal remote access by hackers?

Ever wish you could gain access to your remote computer through your PDA?

Don’t yet have access to your home PC remotely?

Do you want access to your remote computer from your mom's house?

Isn't UNIX a more friendly platform for remote computing?

Does having remote desktop sharing capabilities really do anything for my organization?

Still using one keyboard, one mouse, multiple computers, and a switch to administer each one individually?

How can I, as a CPA, work from home without having to bring my computer home with me?

Are there industry-specific IT solutions for banking?

Can I manage my finances from home?

Can I manage my QuickBooks financing remotely?

How can check a remote system for hotfix compliance?

Can I automatically ensure that my systems maintain SOX IT compliances remotely?

Is there software available that will help my company stay SOX compliant?

What is a good software solution to help solve my remote government IT needs?

Is there a software solution that will help my health care organization gain HIPAA compliance?

Can your hospital’s IT infrastructure be administered remotely in the case of an emergency?

Are you aware that there are vendor-specific remote healthcare IT support products?

What are some good resources to keep up to speed on the latest healthcare IT trends?

Wish you could check on the status of a patient of loved one staying overnight in a hospital?

Is there a tool that offers more advanced remote server support for Linux servers?

Does your remote server support software cause the remotely administered system to automatically reconnect to the administration console when they come back online after a reboot?

How can I perform late-night emergency IT fixes from home without having to rush down to the office?

What is the best remote access platform on which to store my data?

Should my organization spend the time and money on the complex supply chain integration process?

What is systems integration, really?

Will systems integration really help my business?

What will help my IT team during the process of systems integration?

Should I bother with integrating my company’s network with those of my business partners?

Need a secure remote gateway into your organization’s LAN to support remote workers?

Finding that big conference calls aren’t providing the communicative power needed to express your complex ideas?

Looking to give your tech support a little more pizzazz?

Think that video conferencing is just about being able to see the person with whom you’re speaking?

Are video phones really becoming a reality?

What is a good VPN gateway to use for my small to medium business?

Want to enable your employees and clients to throw together ad hoc online meetings and phone conferences at any time, with not hassle, and for free?

How can I host my own web conference?

Looking for an affordable, hosted web conferencing solution?





Not finding the advice and tips you need on this Remote Access Tip Site? Request a Tip Now!


Guru Spotlight
Joe Wallace