Need help picking remote software!

[Xander]

Has anyone tried Radmin?

RAdmin was the first remote software I ever saw. I kept it on my first flash drive and was regularly upset at how every single piece of AV seemed to remove it as a virus. I know it's not but, frankly, it's not worth the hassle of having every customer's AV squawk about it being one. Not great for credibility.

 

[callthatgirl]

RAdmin was the bomb for corporate helpdesk, used it at one job and it was slick. My first helpdesk job used McAffee (2000) LOL. We used them for backing up computuers too, they had some interesting software back then.

 

[Jeffreynya]

Has anyone ever used RemoteZilla? http://www.remotezilla.com/. Looks like it has a good number of features and not over the top expensive.

 

[TechLady]

You know I looked at Remotezilla briefly but to be honest I was so turned off by the Geocities-looking website that I kind of moved on...

 

[FoolishTech]

I'm using ammyadmin working good with windows 7.

Before I went back to work for my current employer, where we use Teamviewer, I used Ammy Admin.

It worked well, as well as Teamviewer does...

My only question is, what's wrong with it??? It's FREE... I'm surprised I don't see a lot more people post about it.

I will be doing my own biz again here soon, and have known for some time that I will need to be looking at new remote support options, and seeing that it's still out there I might give Ammy Admin another go.

Just wondering what could possibly be bad about this software that a lot of people would pay for other options?

EDIT: NEVERMIND. I see it's not completely FREE any longer despite front page claims...

 

[Xander]

Before I went back to work for my current employer, where we use Teamviewer, I used Ammy Admin.

It worked well, as well as Teamviewer does...

My only question is, what's wrong with it??? It's FREE... I'm surprised I don't see a lot more people post about it.

I will be doing my own biz again here soon, and have known for some time that I will need to be looking at new remote support options, and seeing that it's still out there I might give Ammy Admin another go.

Just wondering what could possibly be bad about this software that a lot of people would pay for other options?

EDIT: NEVERMIND. I see it's not completely FREE any longer despite front page claims...

I don't put a lot of trust in software whose authors can't get their information straight on their site.


I opted to buy ScreenConnect a couple of days ago. The only real beef I have about it is that it can't yet touch Kaspersky/Avast windows but they say they're working on it and, if I need to, I'll run TeamViewer for a minute to work with those.

 

[TechLady]

The only real beef I have about it is that it can't yet touch Kaspersky/Avast windows...

Yeah that's a real problem for me, because a LOT of my clients run Avast.

 

[thun]

Logmein

Logmein has a free account. It's pretty nice used for about 3 years.

 

[VortecPC]

Cisco WebEX

I really enjoy using WebEx meeting center. Haven't had a problem with customers on any OS(linux, windows, and mac flavors). To be honest, the only problems I've had with it have been user errors, which can be avoided. Less time worrying about your remote desktop client makes everything that much quicker!

 

[MotzTech]

I use gotoassist express with a daily pass when I need it. If you are only doing a few remote jobs a month this ends up being cheaper. It's $10 for a 1 day pass, even if you do just one job in that day it should more then cover the cost.

 

[Xander]

Yeah that's a real problem for me, because a LOT of my clients run Avast.

For the record, I was able to install and configure Avast through a remote connection with ScreenConnect using the most recent build (2.3.2005.4303). Not recently tested against Kaspersky, though.

 

[TechLady]

I'm starting to look at CrossLoop again. I hate the idea of a monthly fee, but it's still tons cheaper than TeamViewer (almost anything is!) and I'd just have to see how well it does with firewalls...

 

[katz]

For the few remote jobs I do per month, Logmein Free works great. To make it simple I install the app. on all my clients pc (disabled of course) and let them know that it is there for future support if we need to use it.

They have all been on board with the idea, no issues. I keep the app. on my USB drive so I can easily install if I am mobile.

It is an easy download/setup anyway that most users can do on their own, or i can talk them through it on the phone. I was considering ScreenConnect if they get it functional with the AV/kaspersky/other? issues.

I kind of like the idea that I could brand it with my personal logo.

 

[DCGPX]

Not wanting to rain on anyones parade but for those using teamviewer free and logmein free - you do realise that they are strictly for non-commercial use?

I understand using them to start with, it's economics when starting out, but to continue using after a period of time is simply knowingly breaking the EULA

I've done it when looking at remote sw in the early days, but even with my low remote work I use techinline on a batch session paid for pack




www.tornadopc.com

 

[TenYardFight]

definitely true of teamviewer, but I think log me in free is okay for commercial use.

I bought the premium version of teamviewer and don't regret it. super fast and easy for the customer to connect and it's got my branding.

 

[DCGPX]

definitely true of teamviewer, but I think log me in free is okay for commercial use.

I bought the premium version of teamviewer and don't regret it. super fast and easy for the customer to connect and it's got my branding.

From Logmein site : https://secure.logmein.com/products/default.aspx

I took it as its under Personal use its only for that. Could be wrong.

All I meant was that as business grows regards remote work then its only right a fully licensed version is used in a business if it needs one.

I'd love TV but my amount of work at mo doesnt warrant it.

 

[Xander]

For the record, I was able to install and configure Avast through a remote connection with ScreenConnect using the most recent build (2.3.2005.4303). Not recently tested against Kaspersky, though.

Well, I wrote that last night just past 6pm. Around 9, I got an email from a customer trying to activate his KIS. I remoted in with ScreenConnect and, get this, COULDN'T EVEN SEE THE WINDOW . It gets better: from within SC, I ran TeamViewer which also could not even see the Kaspersky window. My version of TV might be a bit dated but I'd only been using it to interact with KAV/KIS up to now.

 

[katz]

From Logmein site : https://secure.logmein.com/products/default.aspx

I took it as its under Personal use its only for that. Could be wrong.

All I meant was that as business grows regards remote work then its only right a fully licensed version is used in a business if it needs one.

I'd love TV but my amount of work at mo doesnt warrant it.

Looks like you are correct on this. Well, I guess the party's over

I don't want to be breaking the law with my remote work even though those jobs may be under 5 or so per month.

Time to look at other options...wish they could get Screenconnect ironed out.

 

[Xander]

LMI Free is free for commercial use... it just has less features than their other products. I thought this was well known.

http://community.logmein.com/t5/Free/LMI-Free-for-commercial-use/td-p/41320

 

[scottay]

I personally use Log Me In and I have both Rescue and Central.

Central is fantastic for business clients, as I can install the app on servers and workstations which allows me to quickly and easily remote into them. It also has alert packages that will tell you a multitude of things (high mem usage, disk space, etc etc), but my favorite is the event alert. I set this up servers so it emails me if any error or critical events get logged.

A couple months back I had an email about a server going offline on a Friday night. Sat morning I went to check on the server to discover it had crashed, and I was able to get it back online before everyone got to work on Monday - thus avoiding the frantic Monday "HEEELLLLPPP" call that I would have to somehow jam into my packed schedule. Total life saver, both for me and my client!

Central can also automatically run scripts... defrag, definition updates, scans, etc... a new feature they just added is automatic updates, which is quite nice.

Rescue is also quite amazing for regular remote support. I have the branded app integrated into my website, and it's very easy to get connected. Once connected I can remotely manage the computer (obviously), swap files back and forth and even install the desktop remote app that they can run instead of visiting my website every time. You can reboot, reboot into safe mode, log on and off of computers without losing connection...

So, tons of awesome features... The downside is the price. Rescue is about 1200/yr right now I think, and Central is an additional fee. That's not so bad, I can deal with that - by cost problem run with the client licenses. Free ones work for simply having an easy method of remoting into a PC/Server, but in order to have the automation, alerts, swap files and all the other toys it cost 40-50/yr for each computer license (a Pro license). For a business to have that on the server is no big deal, for a business to have one on each workstation it still not horrible but is a bit hefty. However, because I primarily do residential support, it's a lot for a user with 3-4 computers in the house... especially when they have to pay for my time on top of it. I'm still trying to figure out how I can offer a high level of automation and support features like i mentioned above to residences.

So, there's my experience with LMI... If anyone else knows of a cheaper alternative that does everything that LMI does I'm sure the OP would love to know about it, I know I certainly would!