Employer wants to watch employee's screen

[Xander]

Figured it's a "remote" issue more than any....

Got a customer that I did some quick repairs for on-site last week but she wants me to come in next week after hours because she wants something that can let her see, discretely, what her receptionist is doing in the other room.

I'm thinking a basic VNC setup running as a service.

Any other suggestions?

[NeutronTech]

I think all the remote software I've used shows something on the other machine. Post back what you find.

[Logicbytes]

You can use ultra VNC and hide the tray icon, then have her connect the viewer in view only mode to the workstation.

[154Tech]

Originally Posted by NeutronTech

I think all the remote software I've used shows something on the other machine. Post back what you find.

I worked in a bank over a decade ago and the managers had something that allowed them to watch the screens of any of their people. No idea what is was or how exactly it worked, but the user had no idea when they were being watched so there is something out there that will do this.

[iisjman07]

Home made Remote Access Trojan (RAT), and set an exclusion in the antivirus

[ecrouch]

Radmin 3.4 Remote Control Software will do just that and more. It has remote control and remote viewing. I use to have it installed on my kids computer when they first got om the internet to both help me keep an eye on them and to remotely fix their computer. 30 days free trail and a lifetime license for $49.

[pceinc]

I have used this in the past. Be sure to add it to AV/MALWARE exclusions.
http://www.softactivity.com/employee-monitoring.asp

The first time I installed it was for a Real Estate office who had an employee wasting tons of time on the internet chatting with friends. The boss's desk sat perpendicular to the employee he was having trouble with but one office away. He could see her through his door. Anytime he would get up she would quickly close the screen and act like she was working. The first time I showed him how to use it she was online chatting with a guy from one of the lending banks they used. I felt terrible for the guy. It was like he just got kicked in the groin. He gathered information through the logging such as screen shots and key logging then presented it to her a couple of weeks later. She was eventually terminated for other issues. Make sure the company has an accepted use policy signed by employees and that they know they are being monitored. If they have a server you can make it part of the login so they have to click OK to continue logging in.

[CPU]

VNC no tray icon (just dont move the mouse or type, lol) or if they just wanna know what they are doing without watching then they can get Actual spy to track the system and email custom reports. We have used it in the past on employees systems and for clients that needed the same.

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Logicbytes

You can use ultra VNC and hide the tray icon, then have her connect the viewer in view only mode to the workstation.

Yeah, basically what I have in mind. VNC: always a good fallback plan.

[scottjb78]

What does this kind of thing say about the culture of that company or business? I think VNC is the best way, you might also want to consider setting up an internet log server like Untangle. It has a free version and will give the Business Owner much more information about web sites etc.. then watching the screen.