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Remote Computer Desktop Control with TeamViewer
Teamviewer is a well-known utility that can be used for various purposes. It supports remote connections, presentation mode, file transfers and virtual private networks. The first surprising aspect of the software is that it does not need to be installed. Both clients need to run the software program to establish the connection between two computers.
Each client creates a unique ID and password and the user who wants to give access to his computer has to send that data to the other user who enters it in his computer. There is virtually no delay and the quality of the picture is really good. Even small fonts are readable.
The other options, remote support, file transfers and virtual private networks work the same way. Everything is streamlined for ease of use. Transfers and connections work behind firewalls as well which works nicely in combination with the portable version of Teamviewer.
Teamviewer is free for commercial usage. A few additional versions are available at the developers homepage that suite specific needs. A support version is available for customers which is a basic version of Teamviewer that can only be used to connect to the client’s computer.
You also find a server version and a manager version at the download page. This is an excellent solution for anyone who has to remotely connect to clients computers regularly, who wants to do presentations over the Internet or use a virtual private network. It is free only for non-commercial usage.
Video Presentation:
Developers website: http://www.teamviewer.com/
16 comments:
Hi Michael,
Just want to let you know about a free desktop sharing tool that you might like to check out: Mikogo
Mikogo allows you to share your screen in real time with up to 10 people simultaneously, making it ideal for 1-to-1 remote support and also 1-to-many online meetings and presentations.
There are no configurations or firewall changes required. Very easy to use. And it's free for both private and commercial use.
Drop by our website and if you would like further info, feel free to contact me.
Regards,
Andrew
The Mikogo Team
andrew(at)mikogo.com
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for sharing your interesting project. Comparing with teamviewer, it has a major advantage since it is free for commercial use, while teamviewer restricts its free offering only for private use.
I have just one question. Do meeting participants (besides meeting organizer) need to download and install any software on their hard drives, or the meeting participation is entirely web-based from their side? I am looking for simple solution to work on customers computers (with their permission), but most of them will not allow installing any software due to the IT restrictions.
Hi Michael,
There is no installation for the participants in order to join a meeting.
When they click on "Join meeting" on the Mikogo homepage, they will be asked to run a file. Screenshot here.
Once the participant has joined your meeting, with their consent you can switch presenter (two mouse clicks) and instantly you'll see their screen.
You might like to see this video which shows the procedure that participants can follow to join a Mikogo meeting. You're welcome to send the video link to your customers to show them what is involved.
Feel free to take it for a test drive, and let me know if you would like further info. It would be great to hear your feedback after you've given it a go.
Regards,
Andrew
The Mikogo Team
Hi Andrew,
That looks good. I will put for test for my support team.
I have couple of more questions:
1. Do you have any settings that is being written on the participants computers (application folder, registry, drivers, logs, etc.) after the session is closed?
2. Do you plan to keep the service free and make money on ads only, or you eventually plan to switch to the commercial distribution?
In current economic situation, all spendings are frozen unfortunately.
One more issue I can foresee is customer hesitation to connect and transfer data through the foreign server (yours is located in Germany, right, I think).
Anyway, I like your product offering, and I do see its great value for personal use. For corporate use, it is yet to be proved.
As Customer Support Manager in a big Corporate environment, I do appreciate good customer support, and I thank you for your instant replies to my inquiries.
Eventually I will report my findings on my blogs to promote the application among the readers.
Let me know if I can be of any other help.
Hi Michael,
I saw you dropped by the Mikogo Blog – thanks for the comment. To answer your questions:
1. No. We don't install anything on the participants' computers, we do not write to the Windows registry, we don't save nor install any drivers on the participants' computers, and we don't save any log files. Mikogo saves info in an XML config file that is placed in the same folder as the participant connection program (mikogo.exe). This is usually the Temporary Internet Files folder therefore both the executable and config file are instantly deleted when the user clears the browser cache.
2. To answer this, I'll refer you to a couple of Mikogo forum threads, as well as a Mikogo Blog post, Is Mikogo a free lunch?
http://forum.mikogo.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=103
http://forum.mikogo.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22
3. Our Servers: Regarding how we enable screen sharing connections, many users (especially corporate users) are behind routers, firewalls, proxy servers. To avoid complex configuration of routers, firewalls and proxy servers (e.g. opening specific ports, configuring port forwarding, etc) we operate a network of switching servers in Europe and North America. These switching servers receive encrypted and encoded screen data from the presenters and relay the data in encrypted and encoded form to participants. Furthermore, when there are multiple participants, our switching servers ensure high performance screen transmission to all participants, not limited by the presenters bandwidth.
Great to hear that you like Mikogo and see it as a valuable tool. I look forward to reading your blog post on Mikogo. Feel free to leave a comment on our blog when you have your post.
Cheers,
Andrew
The Mikogo Team
I'd also recommend a look at Techinline Remote Desktop (http://www.techinline.com) which is probably the easiest tool out there to use for remote access. I was a long-time user of LogMeIn but the simlicity for the customer and functionalty of this service absolutely blew me away. I run a small business and this tool is exactly what the industry needs!
Unfortunately, Techinline does provide only free trial, but it is not free...
i think its amazing. There is virtually no delay and the quality of the picture is really good. Even small fonts are readable.
Are there any time limitations on the "free" version. I'm fine with the limit of one connection -and the overall simplicity looks great (I'd like to help my mother remotely from time to time with her PC).
Hi David,
Unfortunately, I could not test the utility in full (I was even planning to purchase a full version for professional use), since our company regulations introduced the security block for its use. I do not agree with their claim that is not secury enough for our trade secrets transfer, but I had to accept that.
I do remember that it was some kind of limitation on the files transfer. Other than that it was absolutely functional.
I would recommend a look at RHUB http://www.rhubcom.com remote access system. I’m convinced that it’s of outstanding value for my business, for any business in fact, given its multi-functionality at an affordable cost. You can use this single appliance for remote access, remote support, web conferencing, and webinar. And it is a completely non-download system too.
Hi Brian,
It is definitely an interesting solution, but by no means it cannot be considered as a free solution.
Hi,
I'd check out Skyfex - it's free and the new beta is really promising.
www.skyfex.com
Beta is here http://skyfex.com/beta/
Cheers,
Rick.
In addition to the services that are listen in the comments and in the post, I think Proxy Networks should be included. I've used Proxy's remote desktop software for my business for over a year and a half and it performs well.
Hello.
I used TV and Mikogo as well as other software for remote desktop sharing and what can I conclude that is only Ammyy Admin can be compared to TV from the point of ease of use, understandable interface and minimal number of steps to start PC remote control.
Unfortunately all other software lacks this vivid advantage which is crucial for successful helpdesk service.
I think in addition to TeamViewer, one also needs to include RHUB remote support servers in list of remote support tools. It works well.
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