Remote Support Tools advice

[pctech2010]

Apologies in advance for this long thread. I have been looking at several different remote support tools as I am trying to convert my entire business to 100% remote support. I feel I am in over my head on this and looking for some advice...

I am doing remote support because I can no longer do the physical aspect of lifting computers and taking them back to the shop and onsite is out as well. If this works well I plan on bringing on other techs and expanding.

I have looked at the following remote connection software

• Teamviewer
• LogMeIn Rescue
• GoToAssist
• Instant Housecall

I have seen something about UAC being a problem with LogMeIn but I am not clear on when that is an issue and if it still is.

I like that LogMeIn gives the ability to monitor techs and transfer the support session I am not sure if the other support this.

I have tried Teamviewer and had two issues (however this was the free version)

1. I had it get terminated by ADWCleaner and Rkill. However the connection survived Rkill but did not survive ADWCleaner.
2. I've had Teamviewer get disconnect and it is unable to reconnect to the client without rebooting my computer.

I have not tried GoToAssist.


What I am looking for is what is known for integrations, issues and what are their best features. Who has used these and can give some guidance ?



Also any input on workflow/ticket management software ?

I would like ticket tracking, CRM features like making client lists to email as their anti virus is close to renewal etc. I also would like an integrated payment system. I have paypal but also am using a local credit card processing company with a Virtual Terminal.

I am between using RepairShopR, Instant Housecall (but the ticketing part seems lacking) AutoTask is another one I have looked at as well... I am leaning towards RepairShopr but I do like Instant Housecall's end to end integration while AutoTask seems designed to scale well to large groups.

I have noticed only one issue with RepairshopR and that is you cannot setup multiple assets with custom fields that contain drop down boxes when you create a custom marketr list it cannot search the data in the drop down boxes under assets but it can under customers....

I did look at Mhelpdesk but I feel it is buggy it locked up and crashed several times during my trial.

What I would like to know is does anyone have any recommendations on this, features I may not be aware of known issues or gotchas ?


I know this is a long question but any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[acscva]

I would recommend searching the forums as you will find a ton of threads on all of these questions.

I would recommend looking at ScreenConnect for remote support tool.

For ticketing systems I would recommend looking again at mHelpdesk or if you want a local version of software then Committ CRM is a nice package. I have been using mHelpdesk for 18 months and absolutely love it for my business!

 

[Moltuae]

I would recommend looking at ScreenConnect for remote support tool.

I'll second that.

Not only is SC less expensive than most of the alternatives, in many aspects it's better too.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I'm very happy using TechInLine.

iirc you can get a discount thru the ACRBO

 

[dombooth]

Screenconnect - ACRBO discount

PC Repair Tracker.

Dom

 

[pctech2010]

I would recommend searching the forums as you will find a ton of threads on all of these questions.

I would recommend looking at ScreenConnect for remote support tool.

For ticketing systems I would recommend looking again at mHelpdesk or if you want a local version of software then Committ CRM is a nice package. I have been using mHelpdesk for 18 months and absolutely love it for my business!

I have been looking through the forums. That is where I heard about this UAC issue with LogMeIn Rescue but I cant find any specifics as to if this is even an issue anymore..

 

[pctech2010]

Expense

Thank you for the suggestions.... Screen Connect, PCRT and Commit CRM all look like nice solutions but at this moment I don't have the $300 to lay out on any of these solutions. So I will have to revisit those at a later point.

With screen connect I do not have a server to run it from and I do not have the bandwidth either here.

I plan on running more then 1 remote session simultaneously from 1 computer as well. This way I can be remotely connected to two separate clients running AV tools/ scanning etc.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

Thank you for the suggestions.... Screen Connect, PCRT and Commit CRM all look like nice solutions but at this moment I don't have the $300 to lay out on any of these solutions. So I will have to revisit those at a later point.

With screen connect I do not have a server to run it from and I do not have the bandwidth either here.

I plan on running more then 1 remote session simultaneously from 1 computer as well. This way I can be remotely connected to two separate clients running AV tools/ scanning etc.

if you dont have the bandwidth to run SC then your not going to have the bandwidth to run any other option.

 

[JakeFromScreenConnect]

With screen connect I do not have a server to run it from and I do not have the bandwidth either here.

You can host it a workstation very easily.

As for bandwidth-- with any remote support tool an overwhelming majority of bandwidth is comprised of the screen raster data flowing from your customer to you. Each packet starts at the customer's computer and makes it's way through the internet to your computer. Using ScreenConnect it will take a little detour through the ScreenConnect server on your LAN. This doesn't affect any of the bandwidth requirements as the same data enters your network regardless.

In fact this can ultimately make things a more efficient, as our little detour through the server on your LAN is much less significant than a detour through a 3rd-party hosted server. (but the hosted services try to STUNT connections and do all sorts of stuff to try for P2P)

Anyway, it sounds like you prefer a hosted pay-as-you-go solution, and that's fine. I just wanted to make sure the information is clear to someone who may want to self-host

 

[pctech2010]

You can host it a workstation very easily.

As for bandwidth-- with any remote support tool an overwhelming majority of bandwidth is comprised of the screen raster data flowing from your customer to you. Each packet starts at the customer's computer and makes it's way through the internet to your computer. Using ScreenConnect it will take a little detour through the ScreenConnect server on your LAN. This doesn't affect any of the bandwidth requirements as the same data enters your network regardless.

In fact this can ultimately make things a more efficient, as our little detour through the server on your LAN is much less significant than a detour through a 3rd-party hosted server. (but the hosted services try to STUNT connections and do all sorts of stuff to try for P2P)

Anyway, it sounds like you prefer a hosted pay-as-you-go solution, and that's fine. I just wanted to make sure the information is clear to someone who may want to self-host

Jake thank you for the info. what type of up/down speed do you need to effectively run it ? Can it be run from residential broadband or do you need a business level with guaranteed upstream speeds?

what system requirements does ScreenConnect require?

I honestly don't want to do a pay as you go and would love to have a self hosted solution but unfortunately I just don't have the upfront money for a self hosted solution at this time.

 

[Moltuae]

Can it be run from residential broadband or do you need a business level with guaranteed upstream speeds?

what system requirements does ScreenConnect require?

I run it on a fairly humble desktop PC acting as a server. It's an old i5-2320 (3GHz) that's running a bunch of other stuff 24/7, including a couple of VMs. It doesn't even break into a sweat. CPU activity for SC is around 0-2% most of the time and memory usage a mere 50MB. I reckon you could probably run this thing on a Raspberry Pi, it uses such little resources.

As for broadband, I presently run it through a 80/20 residential fibre connection and previously used it on a 15/1 (approx.) ADSL connection, without any issues.

 

[pctech2010]

I run it on a fairly humble desktop PC acting as a server. It's an old i5-2320 (3GHz) that's running a bunch of other stuff 24/7, including a couple of VMs. It doesn't even break into a sweat. CPU activity for SC is around 0-2% most of the time and memory usage a mere 50MB. I reckon you could probably run this thing on a Raspberry Pi, it uses such little resources.

As for broadband, I presently run it through a 80/20 residential fibre connection and previously used it on a 15/1 (approx.) ADSL connection, without any issues.

Thank you for the info that is very helpful!

 

[AndyM]

I had a trial of ScreenConnect a few months ago, but didn't convert the trial to a solution. As ScreenConnect are constantly updating their software, I have just asked for an extension, and they literally emailed me back within about 30 seconds with the new codes!

Fantastic customer service!

Andy