Episode #113
Dear Leo, I run a small IT services business and was wondering what software you would recommend to manage and monitor workstations from a remote help desk location? I would like to send customers to our website and get them to click an icon that would upload diagnostic info such as that collected by SiSoftware Sandra, create a job ticket, perhaps give us some sort of remote control session and then email the client a link to report back as to their satisfaction level once the job is closed. I am keen on using Citrix GoToAssist (although I don’t know anyone else using this) as experiments with VNC have had mixed levels of success given different customer situations and skill levels. I look forward to your answer and would be open to the idea of any opensource solution or other that you may recommend. Kind regards, William
William, Melbourne, VIC
The Citrix product is excellent - they know Windows better than anyone. VNC is the best open solution, but it’s slow and can be kludgey, especially for neophytes. You might look at Logmein.com - it’s coming on strong, but it’s not opensource. And there’s always windows own remote assistance platform, which may be the easiest choice if all your customers use Windows XP or later.