Hi People, I run a small computer repair business. Until now, i've always visited customers or they've brought them here for work. I've noticed that some similar businesses offer to connect to their customer's computers remotely to solve problems. I'd like to be able to do the same but am not sure how it all works. I've heard of programs like Logmein and team viewer but am not sure what the way forward is. Many thanks
I know the sort of thing you're after, the likes of BT and Virgin use it, you send a small program for the customer to download and get control,of their desktop. It also comes with a live chat window as well and the beauty of it ,is that when the session ends the program doesn't stay on the PC. The only problem at the mo is that I can't remember for the life of me what it's called, but rest assured, that as soon as it comes to me I'll let you know.
Logmein free works for remote control. If you buy logmein central you can send the client via email as well (pre configured). For fast access you can go to http://www.logmein.com/express & do a session with no clients (however this is in beta so they may start charging for it at any point). We use Kasaya at work but it cost £150k so you need to have quite a few customers to do it.
In the last place I worked, I set up a GoToAssist account that cost us about £40 a month for one helpdesk user to access at a time. You then just gave the customer a web address and a code and their desktop would load up on your screen. It also had an option to run as a service temporarily so you could log out and reboot with auto-reconnect etc. Plus you could transfer files to and from their machine.
LogMeIn TeamViewer You can also use the built-in system called Remote Assistance. The user initiates it by sending you a request for support through the system built into Windows. I use all three of these on a daily basis, alongside Terminal Services and Dameware.
teamviewer is my favorite for phone support, but any computers i am supporting long-term get realVNC on them so that i can go in without any action on my customer's part.
Teamviewer Quick Support will do the trick nicely; it's an attractive, straightfoward bit of software that works, although I'm not sure what the licensing considerations, ie. expense, would be if using for commercial purposes. From the customers point of view, they download and double-click an executable file, which gives an ID number and four digit password. They can call or email you with that info, you plonk it in to your copy (full version) of Teamviewer and hey presto, you're connected. I use it to support my families computers. They have a link to Teamviewer QS on their desktop so when they call me for help, I ask them to double-click it and read me the number. Nice and easy, especially for users who aren't particularly IT-literate. You can also customise it with your own logo, contact info, etc. Alternatively, they could also install Teamviewer 'Host' which installs as a service and makes the computer permanently available with a unique ID number that never changes. The disadvantage of course, is that this poses a possible security risk to the user, as I suppose in theory the password could be brute-forced. Give it a whirl using two computers, or a virtual machine acting as the customer.
i use logmein for my business and the company i work for. we have every machine well over 50 all with logmein installed. i honestly cant tell you how simple it is. install program on new machine - link to your account - job done. no port forwarding etc or getting the client permission unless you want it set that way.
