Ask HN: What are your experiences with remote support software?

4 pointsby Flemlordvor 18 Jahren8 comments

My company is getting close to a beta release and we need (1) demo/webinar software and (2) remote control software for on-the-fly remote support. Specifically, we need to be able to take control of clients' computers to do installs and troubleshoot problems.

The two big players seem to be GoToAssist/GoToMeeting and WebEx. Does anybody have experience with them or other solutions? We care less about features/functionality and more about our customers having a seamless setup. (ie. No screwing around with client firewalls.)

Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

5 comments

alaskamillervor 18 Jahren

I like FogCreek copilot https://www.copilot.com/

cprvor 18 Jahren

Agreed. Works simply & beautifully. No firewall problems (works indirectly if it has to, directly if it can).

(It's just VNC with a nice native wrapper (both Mac and Win) that makes it painless for all involved.)

Flemlordvor 18 Jahren

"VNC with a wrapper" worries me. I've had problems getting VNC working across corporate firewalls.

tihomirvor 18 Jahren

I recommended http://www.uvnc.com/pchelpware/index.html You can customize it with your company needs and it's really fast.

mmelinvor 18 Jahren

WebEx is the dinosaur, but I like TeamViewer http://www.teamviewer.com/ - it is inexpensive and works _very_ well.

Flemlordvor 18 Jahren

I checked out TeamViewer and really liked it. Simple, worked on all of my computers, and I like the idea of being able to buy a "license" instead of having to fork over a monthly service fee. But TeamViewer can't connect multiple people so I can't use it for presentations. Not for presentations involving more than one other person anyway.

This is still a possibility for support.

otoburbvor 18 Jahren

I use WebEx in my work environment primarily for sharing deployment sessions that involve a GUI or for remote low-framerate group presentations. It's relatively easy to use and does the job.

For remote support, I personally use LogMeIn (they bought Hamachi out I believe) for my parents' desktop. That is a great tool for remote control software, provided you don't mind installing the LogMeIn client on the target system.

aneeshvor 18 Jahren

I used GoToMeeting as the customer (the other party was demoing to me), and it was pretty seamless. Worked out of the box, and was pretty easy to use.