Remote connection tool

[brucem1867]

We use a hosted service called logmeinrescue.com for the price per month it is great, works with activex across multi platform, worth a look.

[craigbrass]

Log me in Rescue looks like a good solution to people who need it. I think this is a better solution rather than Kayako building it as as Jamie said, it is well beyond the scope of the software.

[Siora]

It may be out of scope now but if you want to attract more clients and keep existing clients happy, it could be well worth the investment. Think about all the people using Kayako and paying over $100/month for remote system. All of these people would rather give $100/month to Kayako if it was properly integrated within Kayako's ticketing tool hence increasing Kayako's revenues. They've got the developers, I say hire a few more and get it done...it will be well worth the investment.

[Naas_it]

We're evaulating helpdesk software at the moment and the only thing stopping us from buying Kayako straight away is the lack of remote control software. As others have said in this thread theres lots of ways of achieving this outside Kayako, but then again theres lots of ways of achieving everything Kayako does outside of Kayako. Its the best thing we've seen yet but this, for us, is a big ommission.

The idea would be to have simple integration with all apects of the support process, this being an extremely useful, and for what we want important, part. We wouldnt mind at all paying an extra amount for it as an add-on, as long as its not $100's and $100's of dollars, and presumably others would too.

Readydesk, as someone else mentioned, is another help desk product but a poor second cousin when it comes to general functionalilty but oddly enough it does this?

If this is something Kayako will never implement maybe it should be moved into "will never implement" section instead, but it would be a shame.

[danielpugh]

what would be a good idea would be to incorporate a repeater app for the livesupport part - having to configure static ip addresses and port forwarding to each laptop is a pain, and very difficult when we have support staff working in multiple locations (via vpn).

ultravnc provide the repeater app. code as open source. (this is what readydesk uses, and it works well).

ie livesupport app could connect directly to the server running kayako.
this shouldnt be needed for hosted environments on live ip addresses.
this would also provide a good basis for 2-way communication in ie us taking control of end users via customised ultravnc-sc (also as used by readydesk).

we have used such systems for nearly 2 years (previously we used the dualdesk app) which is ultravnc based as well. its easy to implement and pretty reliable.

//rant/suggestion ends

[Naas_it]

Could be worth checking out actually how much of the exisiting client base would licence this if it became available - it may be more popular than you think before attracting any new customers at all!! Theres plenty of open source projects to benefit from as well.

We use functionality built into a commercial SSL VPN which is just re-wrapped and slightly modified VNC, works like a charm as well, but its outside any support system and a bit clunky for some of our users who sometimes need that extra little bit of help, god bless them. I cant imagine it was that hard to do. I'm sure the ultra VNC project developers would welcome some contract work. sourceforge.net can help you out with its new spanking marketplace for that kind of thing.

This could be more popular than initally thought and not as much work as reinventing the wheel........

Either way the repsonse times to this forum bode well for the product!! Thanks Jamie for the prompt reply.

[Naas_it]

Its a Juniper Networks SSL VPN appliance - theres a feature called "secure meeting manager" which allows you to set up either a full blown meeting with multiple attendees or a quick one-on-one support meeting. Its quite straighforwad to set up meetings but if youre dealing with 'particularly needful' users then a button on a support site that says "help me!!! fix my computer!!" would be a tremendous help instead.

http://www.juniper.net/products/ssl/dsheet/100164.pdf

I think these types of SSL VPN device have this as standard, though you have to pay extra for the functionality.

[danielpugh]

http://www.simple-help.com/

installs on linux and windows, relatively cheap, runs on all o/s (windows/osx/vista etc etc), very easy to install and run, can be embedded as html.

on the downside - it cant reboot and reconnect automatically.

i am also looking at:
http://www.echogent.com/products.htm
open source - pretty easy to install, windows/linux, based on combination of vnc etc

mostly cross-platform, but bit more complex.

the hard bit seems to be getting osx based support which seems to escalate the cost massively for the very nice solutions.

[SteveMoffat]

Would it not be very easy to incorporate the Remote Desktop Web connection Activex component already supplied with Windows 2003?

Steve

[Naas_it]

This monthsd PC Pro has a good round of remote connection tools.

[Speedy059]

We are a private company searching for a support solution that will fulfill all of our needs. I was drawn to Kayako because of the many features and has everything that we can ask for, except one thing! It's great that their is a feature that allows the client to see the staff members desktop...but what about an option for staff member to see clients desktop? Right now we use webex.com for this so we can help our clients troubleshoot issues they are experiencing. Not only do we use that ability to give clients support, but also to give demo's of our products.

If this feature is going to be implemented soon please let me know, we are interested in the Owned Licenses for SupportSuite. With 30,000 to 50,000 people using our software, there are many times when clients need our help. And helping people with all different ways is getting to sloppy. It would be great if we could wrap everything up into one piece of software.

David
EPCO

[Speedy059]

I am shocked that Kayako doesn't want to invest in something like this. Just think of all the money company's make that offer this service only, such as webex.com. If you guys could create something similiar (which would have to involve highering Java guru's) it would make your product sooo much better. People would choose this than pay small fee's at places like webex.com.

[craigbrass]

I would be for this if they hired new programmers to do it rather than taking existing ones "off the job" so to speak.

[Jamie Edwards]

Originally Posted by Speedy059

I am shocked that Kayako doesn't want to invest in something like this. Just think of all the money company's make that offer this service only, such as webex.com. If you guys could create something similiar (which would have to involve highering Java guru's) it would make your product sooo much better. People would choose this than pay small fee's at places like webex.com.

This is something we are considering for the future, but we aren't able to jump in and hand over the resources to every nice sounding project (as much as we would like to ). Do stay posted, and please continue contributing your thoughts and ideas about it to this thread.

[netFusion]

Originally Posted by Siora

I tried using ultravnc and didn't like it at all. LogMeIn Rescue it is...much more features and has a built in survey (two things Kayako is lacking).

I've been using LogMeIn the last couple of days and I like it mainly for it's speed. All of the VNC variants I have tried are so slow! SC and PCHelpware included.

The bad thing about LogMeInRescue is the $129/mo/technician price tag. But since it seems to be the best thing going. I don't use it often enough to justify that much expense. If it were half that price, I would be more likely to subscribe to it. Even more so if someone would sell the whole application so I can load the repeater portion on one of my own servers at the Data Center and run it myself.

As popular as these remote support applications are these days, I'm really surprised that someone hasn't developed one that rivals the speeds of LogMeIn and GoToAssist at a reasonable price.

If anyone has seen one that isn't based on VNC and/or can rival the speed of the apps like LogMeIn, please do share...

Eddie