internet

     A good discussion was had on the mailing list today when Dave raised a question about where to go if netmeeting isn't available, as Microsoft as discontinued support for it as they replace it with some newer products.

    The major response has come back in favour of VNC, and there were opinions on the various versions and distributions available out there. RealVNC is the 'official' one, and they have a limited version that is freely available. If you want the security features, you need to go with the enterprise version (you can get a quote on their site). If you already have a VPN setup to the client, you probably don't need the security features (unless you're paranoid about local sniffers). A strength of RealVNC mentioned was the clipboard integration. As I type this on my Mac, I'm copying URL's from the emails on my PC and pasting them directly here - no fuss, no hassle. My understanding of VNC however is that it's an open standard (thus the proliferation of clients & servers) so the interoperability of each should be compatible back and forth.

    PCAnywhere which in the early 90s was the leader on the PC side seems to have not gotten too many votes. Perhaps it was the price point? A know a large # of people too that still just support off directly connecting to the unix server and anything PC related they just do over the phone. Perhaps this thread will give them the opportunity to explore a few other options. We all know that it can be difficult sometimes getting a user to type in PrintSpaceANineDollarSign. It only takes minutes to setup VNC the first time, and less after that.

    The 'Ask for Assistance' feature of MSN Messenger was mentioned. This can work if the user already has a passport account etc, which many won't have. Also, a number of organizations do not allow instant messaging applications as part of their corporate policy so you could hit resistance using this method. Not to mention having all your clients on your contact list could get disruptive.

    Thought not brought up in the conversation today, I know that a # of clients also have agreements with some of the web & java based providers of these types of services. In this case you pay the 3rd party a support agreement monthly and your staff have accounts on their system which they login to and start a session. The client then connects to the website and connects to your session. The benefit of these types of systems if you eliminate most of the connection/firewall related issues you'll run into occasionally with the others.

    Another products mentioned: Remote Adminstrator (AKA "radmin")
TridiaVNC - Tridia was known in our cirlces years ago for the DoubleView software on unix systems which would allow you to take control of a terminals session and provide support, so they know the business well.
tightVNC
DameWare Mini Remote Control
UltraVNC