A network with 50 users or fewer may not sound like a big installation, but it’s hard to keep up with, especially if you’re the only IT support person on the payroll. As good as the exercise may be, I get tired of walking this 80,000 square foot building every day to get to my end users’ workstations. I am constantly on the lookout for any kind of software that makes my life easier. If you’re in a similar boat, the Network Associates’ Remote Desktop may be just what you’re looking for to help you get more support done in less time.

Tech support via remote control
As a part of the Total Service Desk package, the Remote Desktop component is a great help to me. It allows me to connect to any desktop on my network and remotely fix any problems. I like this software because it’s not a big resource hog. With other similar products, such as PCAnywhere, you must install the complete program on the client desktop. With Remote Desktop, only a small controlling agent is required. It sits in the user’s Systray and is loaded automatically when Windows boots. With this program I have corrected many problems without leaving my desk, which makes it worth its weight in gold! The Total Service Desk has many components, and the ZAC 2001 product package is an IT manager’s dream come true.

I’ve used this program many times—most recently when a user had trouble gaining access to her e-mail account. The user called to ask if I could help. I told her to hold on while I used Remote Desktop to connect to her machine. I went into her e-mail client and made some changes to her configuration. Within minutes she was up and e-mailing once again. (Apparently she had entered the wrong password in her setup. Once I made that change, all was well once again.) Without the Remote Desktop software, I would have had to walk to the other side of the building to take care of that problem—and it would have taken twice as long.

Most help desk support is time-consuming and sometimes cumbersome. Remote Desktop lets the technician connect and control the client’s machine without tying up too much network bandwidth. Remote Desktop lets you customize the configuration and protocol the agent uses to connect your system and the client machine. Basically, it works with TCP/IP, NetBIOS, IPX, or Named Pipe protocol. The software also has a chat window so you can converse with the end user while you’re fixing the system. You can find out more about Remote Desktop here.