Which remote support software to purchase for a 50+ user base

Mr Davo · 15 Jan 2013

Hi Everyone,

I am currently trying to decide on the best remote support software to purchase for a 50+ workstation business. I have experimented with Real VNC and TeamViewer, and whilst they are quite comparable I noticed that TeamViewer has a feature called "Seamless Windows" (if anybody knows anything about this feature can you please let me know).

I will be providing remote support to local users, and several interstate branches - therefore the software that I decide on must accommodate a wide diversity of geographical locations.

I was also looking at a product called GoverLAN, but it seems to me that GoverLAN only works on a single LAN and can't be used over a WAN in a similar way to both RealVNC & TeamViewer (if you have experience with GoverLAN to the contrary can you please let me know).

Any general advice on what the best remote support software is will be great (including personal usage experiences).

Kind Regards,

Davo

marsmimar · 15 Jan 2013

I work for a business that has over 1,000 PCs in use. About 750 are located on the main campus with the remaining 250 or so off site around North America. Individual users will often conference with colleagues in Europe, South America, the Netherlands and other countries. Our IT Department has used TeamViewer exclusively. As far as I know there haven't been any issues.

I think this is the information you may be interested in for Seamless Windows.

Seamless windows

UsernameIssues · 15 Jan 2013

Mr Davo said:

.........I will be providing remote support......

It depends on the type of support and your budget. If you are going to be primarily helping users solve issues with one or two main apps - then any remote tool can help with that. If you are going to be helping with most everything that can go wrong with a computer, then there are certain tools better suited for that than others.

I agree that TeamViewer (TV) is good - I'm connected to two computers right now with it. I like the feature to reboot the remote computer into the safe mode and still be able to reconnect. Google did not find where TV uses the term "seamless" anywhere on its website... maybe because they don't consider their way of selecting/viewing a single window true to the definition of a seamless window. All the TV app does is re-size the TV window on your end so that it only shows the window being shared. If any other window appears in front of that shared window, you will see that too. This is not what I would call a seamless window sharing or single window sharing. You can get almost the same effect by resizing a VNC window.

As far as I know, you would pay $750USD or more to get a lifetime license for TV for your computer at your office. (The client software is free.) If your "office computer" is a laptop that you keep with you, then you could connect to a remote computer from your home w/o a trip to the office.

You would pay $70/year for LogMeIn Pro (Again, the client software is free.) LogMeIn Pro and a large number of other remote control tools are web based, so you can connect to a remote computer no matter what computer/device you are near. LogMeIn also gives you more "IT Management" details than TV does*... but there are other ways to get that info. You can try LogMeIn Pro for free and see if these extra tools are something that you need.

I support (for free) an office that uses LogMeIn Pro. Several people use that one account to remote into that office to get to a database.... just one person can remote in at one time. [edit: I'm not trying to be a commercial for LogMeIn Pro, I use TV more than LogMeIn because I do not need the "IT Management" stuff.] There are several other remote control tools that cater to the "IT Management" stuff more than TV does* - but again - it all depends on what you will be doing during these remote control sessions.

Citrix makes several remote control tools that do true "seamless windows" - but I've never used that feature on their products. I've read the RDP can do "seamless windows" too - but that's not what you need.

*TV might have lots of "IT Management" stuff and I've just not bothered to find those screens. Also, I could not find a good video that details the "IT Management" stuff in LogMeIn Pro - shame on them.

edit: this video concentrates more on the "IT Management" stuff than the remote control. The "IT Management" stuff can be gathered/examined without disturbing the user of the remote computer.

Mr Davo · 15 Jan 2013

Thanks guys for your informed responses, both very helpful.

chrispeterson · 17 Jun 2013

I would recommend deploying on premise RHUB remote support appliances as you have 50 + workstations requirement. It is very easy to use and best part is you own the appliance for lifetime after one-time payment.