We are able to provide remote support to our users. This can be very useful to resolve problems more quickly. (A picture is worth a thousand words, and it lets us confidently do low-level things to recover or fix data if this is ever necessary - it is not wise to dictate instructions of this nature over the phone to users who have minimal "low-level technical" capabilities.) But having said that, most (by far) of the remote support that we do is combined with the telephone (or Internet voice) to provide high quality remote training very cost-effectively. The best mechanism for providing remote support varies according to your computer and network environment and configuration, and your own security policies.
We have a fairly secure remote support facility, which does not require you
to set up a special VPN connection or open any holes in your firewall. You
simply download the special remote support program from our website and initiate
the session with us. To make use of this facility, click on the following hyperlink to the special
web-page for this:
Remote Support using UltraVNC Single Click
UltraVNC is an "open source" product that can be used free of charge. (Donations to support ongoing development and project administration are always welcome.) It is a very efficient remote support package that runs happily on all versions of Windows (i.e. will work fine on a Windows XP platform, but also works if you have a Windows 2000 or even Windows 98 computer), and has all the functionality we need for most training and support requirements.
It has a very nifty facility (called "Single Click"). Because it allows you to initiate and establish the remote VNC session from your end, it gets this out through your fire-wall without a VPN connection or having to open any ports (i.e. expose yourself to any potential security risks). You don't even need to install VNC permanently on your computer. A remote support session is therefore very easy to implement at your end: you just download the small support program from our website and run it. It will temporarily install itself on your computer, initiate the session with us (we have configured it appropriately so that it knows our IP address etc. and can only work with us), and then uninstall itself (without leaving any residue in your system Registry) when the remote session finishes.
Note that UltraVNC Single Click seems to run a bit slower than UltraVNC over a VPN connection or directly through a port that has been opened in your firewall (and forwarded to the appropriate workstation). But in most cases it is still fast enough to be very useful. (For this reason, users who require relatively frequent support from us (e.g. new sites that have just started using the software, or existing users who have recently added new modules), may still want to consider providing us with a secure VPN connection - for a period at least.)
We have a static IP address. This allows you to set up special security privileges purely for us (with the confidence that no-one else can spoof our identity). This may provide extra security for a special VPN connection, or allow you to safely open holes in your firewall exclusively for our use. You would then initiate things by sending us a request to provide Remote Assistance. Alternatively, you may prefer us to use a dial-up connection via the telephone lines using pcAnywhere (i.e. going nowhere near the Internet, and even to the extent that you can dial us to initiate the connection and be completely confident as to who is connected to your computer).
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection is safe and secure way for us to
connect with you. You need to have your network administrator set up a
special VPN connection for us. This provides a very secure means to let us
come through your firewall. It has the flexibility (and advantage) of
allowing us to provide remote support to any workstation on your network (which can be handy when
various people use different parts of the software, or if you want us to resolve
a problem that only occurs on one particular workstation). We only launch
a VPN connection to your network when required, and close the connection when we
have finished. You can use email (or Windows Messenger) from the
workstation concerned, to invite us to provide support using Windows XP's Remote
Assistance facility. Alternatively you can use other support software
(such as VNC - which is very efficient, and also works with computers that run
Windows 2000 or even Windows 98).
There are a number of other options for providing remote support. We have found that Vista creates a lot of problems in this regard. Some Vista installations work fine - and then don't several months later (after a various Windows Updates). Other installations of Vista have never worked at all with our normal UltraVNC tool. There are a number of other remote support tools that can be used if necessary.
E-Mail now to: Support@Adminsoft.com
Phone: (09) 262 2010, Fax: (09) 262 2021 (within New Zealand)
(From overseas +64 9 262 2010 or +64 9 262 2021)