Product Reviews

Anyone who's tried to resolve a support issue over the telephone knows how frustrating and time-consuming it can be. Being able to remotely access the user's system makes so much more sense. Even a virtual presence can save time and increase support and helpdesk productivity. There are plenty of remote-control software products available, but hosted remote access services are a burgeoning market, as they offer a number of distinct advantages over traditional methods.

Netviewer one2one shows these features off particularly well, since this service aims to be simple without making security a casualty. Once you've purchased a licence from Netviewer, you're emailed two small footprint consultant and client utilities. No installation is required, as the consultant is run directly from a Desktop shortcut. The support process is therefore straightforward: when a member of staff or customer calls the helpdesk or support centre, the technician loads the consultant utility on their own PC. This automatically logs into the password-protected one2one service and generates a one-time six-digit session identifier code. The client utility will generally be placed on the company's website and the caller is directed to where they can download and run it. After entering the session identifier code as advised by the helpdesk,

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the client links up to the one2one service and connects to the consultant. Since the service uses HTTP tunnelling on port 80, you don't have to reconfigure firewall rules to allow one2one to function, and as expected all communications between consultant and client are 128-bit encrypted.

On first contact, the consultant utility changes to a simple control panel for accessing the various features. You can set the consultant to start in Show mode, where the client is allowed to watch their screen but not interact with it. However, these roles may be swapped as required, so the client can go into Show mode simply by selecting this option on the utility's title bar. The levels of access control makes one2one particularly appealing to companies providing a service to third-party customers who may not want them to see everything on the end user's system, and vice versa.

The Select option lists all active apps and you can uncheck those you don't want the other side to see. You can also restrict access from either side to show only those applications started after the session had begun and block or allow the taskbar, Desktop and system views. If the latter is selected, the user in Watch mode will simply see a black background where the Desktop would normally be.

Only the user in Show mode can allow their system to be remotely controlled by the watcher and these privileges may be revoked instantly. The price for the review product also includes file transfer, which is only active for the user in Watch mode during a remote-control session. Sensibly, all file transfers can only take place once the user in Show mode has given their permission.

We found Netviewer one2one very easy to use during testing, making it a capable support tool for a wide range of applications. Security hasn't been sacrificed and, although features are minimal, this hosted service is also good value.