web remote assistance?

Rahh

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
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This may be more for networking I'm not sure. I want to setup something on our website that would allow me to give remote assistance to help train and aid them with software we have. I tried the remote assistance through windows xp but it wasn’t that great and for some people that aren’t computer savvy it was a chore to get them setup so I could help. I'd like to be able to give them a link and through a small download or something on our webpage it would allow me to connect to them and help.

Any of this make sense? I've had it done for me before where I just went to a link downloaded something (their software?) and they were able to connect. Just wanted to know what it would take for myself to be able to offer that kind of assistance.
 
We develop enterprise software at work, and we do a lot of hand-holding like you describe.

We use the following programs on a regular basis:
Network Streaming

and

GotoAssist

both do what you describe, and both work over port 80 (i believe), so firewalls are less of a problem.

Originally, we used GoToAssist, but switched to Network Streaming because the licensing was more flexible. However, in my opinion, GoToAssist is a superior product.

Neither is cheap.
 
bumping this....

I looked into WebEx and GoToAssist and they both want an arm and leg to have them offer this kind of assistance. I would think it would be easy to setup some kind of assistance like this for a small company that has their own server and webhost. I just need to be pointed in the right direction of what my options would be to offer our "own" support to our offices. Don't see the need to go through someone else and especially not for around 400$ a month.

Let me know if anyone has setup their own remote assistance or knows a little about it that can let me know why or why can't this be done. Why would I need GoToAssist?
*shrug*

thanks for the responses thus far!
 
Look for a program called VNC. To the best of my knowledge it's free and should do the sort of thing you're looking for.
 
VNC works reasonably well if the person you are helping has an IP address you can resolve. However, if you have to go through a NAT to get to them, it doesn't work.
 
yeah, that thing is a piece of crap but I guess that's about all you get for a free tool. It works just about the same way remote assistance for windows does as far as I can tell. 90% of the time you can't connect because of NAT and what not.

I guess for support solutions GoToAssist or Webex and the such may be my only option which is not an option right now... heh! Back to trying to help people over the phone......

oh, I forgot to mention but everyone I'm needing to access is already connected to our server through a VPN. Would there be any way to offer assistance through that connection?
 
yeah, you should be able to do windows remote, vnc, or anything else you can think of over VPN because it's tunneled, so you shouldn't have to worry about NAT.
 
There is a vnc program I've heard of that is a program your client downloads. Then they initiate the VNC session to you so that it goes through their firewall. I can't remember the name of it, but you might look into it. It seemed like the best way to work on a client without managing a bunch of network/connection info for each client.
 
cool, thanks for the replies! Our clients dial into our office through VPN so I'll do some research and see what will be best to give them support through that connection.
 
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