Jason Slater Weblog

Today I’ve taken the plunge and migrated to NTRsupport[1] for remote user support. Readers of this Blog will be aware that I have been a fan of Logmeinrescue[2] which is still a great product however after having a demo of NTRsupport and field testing it for a week or so I’ve decided to give it a go.

NTR, formed in 2000, offer remote support solutions in 14 languages world-wide and their product range includes a number of solutions such as NTRconnect (offering secure remote access to your own PC), NTRadmin (Controlling and Managing IT Assets) and NTRsupport their flagship offering remote client support. It is the remote client support offering that I have migrated to.

The first thing to note is that I am able to put a button, skinnable, onto our company website that allows users requiring assistance to place a support call from a familiar place and removing the requirement for PIN numbers - however this is still an option if required.

The support scenario begins with a simple friendly chat session that can be extended to include remote control, file transfer and useful features including video and audio communications, and the very useful ability to swap around the remote viewing window so remote users can see my screen if required. An interesting feature is the ability to specify which applications can be shared over remote control so a security conscious end user can limit what the remote operator can see and do on a per application basis. Surveys can also be configured prior to or post support to offer a rounded support service.

From an Operator perspective, the management interface is clean and uncluttered and immediately, upon login, offers tutorials and FAQs to get a new Operator up and running fast. Incoming support requests (up to 5 at a time) are shown as new tabs in the display and these can be renamed to more meaningful names once support is established. An optional help-desk module extends the functionality to give a trackable incident registration and follow up system.

From an Administrative perspective operators can be assigned easily and live information shown in case a number of Operators are in action. Auditing is another useful facility, being able to access a range of historical information and produce a number of reports in both text and XML formats.

From what I have seen so far I have yet to touch the surface on the sheer number of options available and I look forward to trying them all out, including Installable Remote Control, Flash/XML Buttons, Mail accounts for incident forwarding, privacy policies, and configurable system messages to name but a few.

References

[1] NTRSupport
https://www.ntrsupport.com/web/registro.asp?redir=0

[2] LogmeinRescue
https://secure.logmeinrescue.com/HelpDesk/Home.aspx