Remote Support Software Comparison

[Y.F.N.C.G.]

I've been looking for a new remote support software. In my latest blog post, I dive into a fairly in-depth comparison between 4 of the top remote support offerings and then I reveal the service I decided to go with.

http://www.yfncg.com/2014/10/31/remote-support-software/

What remote support software do you all use and recommend?

 

[NYJimbo]

td;dr

The service I chose is…..

Instant Housecall

Now I can go Trick or Treating....

 

[Dave1320]

If instant house call is $499 a year , then how is it $899 for five years

 

[AndyM]

I've been looking for a new remote support software. In my latest blog post, I dive into a fairly in-depth comparison between 4 of the top remote support offerings and then I reveal the service I decided to go with.

http://www.yfncg.com/2014/10/31/remote-support-software/

What remote support software do you all use and recommend?

ScreenConnect. Which you didn't test? And is a main sponsor on the forums?

Andy

 

[mraikes]

If instant house call is $499 a year , then how is it $899 for five years

IH's pricing structure doesn't translate well to YFNCG's chart.

$899 is the "Lifetime" price, not 5 year, for the Express version of IH.

http://www.instanthousecall.com/pricing/

 

[Y.F.N.C.G.]

If instant house call is $499 a year , then how is it $899 for five years

Yeah, I used the lifetime subscription for IHC for the 5 year cost.

If there was a cheaper yearly subscription, I used that for the 1 year row, instead of 12x monthly. Same for 5 years, if there was a cheaper lifetime or other long-term subscription plan I used it for that row.

 

[Y.F.N.C.G.]

ScreenConnect. Which you didn't test? And is a main sponsor on the forums?

Hey Andy, yeah in the article I mention why I didn't test ScreenConnect. I definitely hear good things about it though. That and SimpleHelp seem to be good solutions for self-hosted remote support.

 

[callthatgirl]

Screen Connect was too tough for me personally to figure out and use. I have tested but didn't get far.

 

[callthatgirl]

Nice list btw Matthew. I will add to my thank you purchase page so folks can get a good review.

 

[joydivision]

What did you find hard about screen connect? I find it extremely easy to use, and it is the fastest one I have tried so far. The only potential problem is I don't have a static IP address.

 

[Martyn]

I've been using Teamviewer Business for about the last 3 years and it works well.

 

[TenYardFight]

The notion that my competitors might settle for more expensive and inferior remote software because they are intimidated by self hosting Screen Connect actually gives me great satisfaction.

 

[mr m]

I don't do a lot of remote work but lately I've been experimenting with AeroAdmin.

 

[mraikes]

I don't do a lot of remote work but lately I've been experimenting with AeroAdmin.

Hadn't hear of this one, and the pricing is attractive - FREE. For personal and business use. And it seems to have a number of good features.

But why is it free? How are they supported? Who are you actually working with? Apparently it's a Russian product.

 

[acscva]

I love my screenconnect and have it hosted on one of my Windows 7 PC's that I use for surveillance system for my home office. Very easy to configure and if you need assistance their support is very good.

They would have won the comparison if you did compare them

 

[Y.F.N.C.G.]

They would have won the comparison if you did compare them

Yeah, I definitely hear great things about ScreenConnect and also SimpleHelp. Someone should do a comparison of the self-hosted remote support solutions....I just didn't have the time to compare more than the 4 I did.

 

[Xander]

IHC's biggest failing is its pricing. $899 for lifetime for only 20 uninstalled PCs. Sure, 3 concurrent is nice but I set up every customer I can as an unattended. I probably have a hundred that I've never accessed but, if they call, I can within seconds. I can get THREE SC (lifetime) licenses for around the same and have 3 concurrent unlimited unattendeds.

And, if SC ever were to go out of business, I'm self-hosted and my remotes won't fail because I'm not dependent on a now-folded company.

 

[mraikes]

IHC's biggest failing is its pricing. $899 for lifetime for only 20 uninstalled PCs. Sure, 3 concurrent is nice but I set up every customer I can as an uninstalled. I probably have a hundred that I've never accessed but, if they call, I can within seconds. I can get THREE SC (lifetime) licenses for around the same and have 3 concurrent unlimited unattendeds.

And, if SC ever were to go out of business, I'm self-hosted and my remotes won't fail because I'm not dependent on a now-folded company.

I assume you mean "unattended" rather than "uninstalled". Recently I've been installing IHC on every computer I work on, but NOT as unattended. The install leaves a nice branded (my brand) icon on the desktop that the user can use to establish a connection when ever they need - also within seconds. There's no limit to the number of those kinds of installs.

I'm clear with customers that for their protection (and mine) that install absolutely does NOT permit unattended access. Neither I nor anyone else can use it to access their computer unless THEY initiate it. They seem to appreciate that.

And the attended/unattended is easily toggled on a per-session basis. So when a situation gives advantage to unattended access, it can be turned on as circumstances warrant and then turned off when done.

Currently my limit for concurrent unattended installs is 20 - which is very small for some of you remote specialists or MSP focused providers. But for my ad-hoc needs it's actually WAY more than enough unattended connections. I use 3-4 for my own systems and then rarely use more than 2-3 additional at any time for customers. Leaves plenty of elbow room for unexpected busy periods.

 

[Xander]

No. I mean "unattended" meaning I can connect to those machines as needed, without it having an attendant (client) there to push buttons for me. That's what the word means, in this context.
20 "unattendeds" means there would be only 20 machines on my license that I could connect to as needed.

You're installing the IHC client which means they still need to initiate a connection.

 

[doubleohalex]

No. I mean "unattended" meaning I can connect to those machines as needed, without it having an attendant (client) there to push buttons for me. That's what the word means, in this context.
20 "unattendeds" means there would be only 20 machines on my license that I could connect to as needed.

You're installing the IHC client which means they still need to initiate a connection.

I think he was pointing out that in your initial post you said "uninstalled" but meant to say "unattended".

Anyways, I agree with you on ScreenConnect. We originally used Logmein before they did away with their free licenses and changed a lot of their policies. We currently have SC sitting on an Ubuntu server at Digital Ocean out in NYC. We do not have any complaints about it really and couldn't be happier.