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

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=365170

by Flemlord • 18 years ago

4 8 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

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.

otoburb• 18 years ago

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.

alaskamiller• 18 years ago

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

cpr• 18 years ago

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.)

Flemlord2• 18 years ago

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

aneesh• 18 years ago

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.

tihomir• 18 years ago

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

mmelin• 18 years ago

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

Flemlord2• 18 years ago

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.

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

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