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Who Needs Remote Access Software?
Ever been in a meeting in another company's office and realized that the PowerPoint presentation you were planning to dazzle them with is back at home on your computer? Or tried to help your parents, who live halfway across the country, figure out why their computer just won't open a file? These are exactly the scenarios that remote access utilities are made to handle.
Remote access apps let you either access your home or office computer from another location, or allow others to have access to some or all of your files, as if they were actually sitting in front of your PC instead of somewhere else entirely. Some are tailor-made for personal use, while others, with their complex security protocols and granular menus, are better suited for a more corporate environment. Many even let you access a remote PC from your phone or handheld device. Here, we break down exactly what a remote access app does, and why one may make a lot of sense for your increasingly mobile life.
What Is Remote Access Software?
Remote access software lets one computer view or control another computer, not merely across a network, but from anywhere in the world. You might use it to log into your customers' computers and show them how to run a program, or sort out their technical troubles. Or you can even use it to invite friends or clients to view your desktop while you run a demo for them. You can use the screen as a temporary whiteboard, drawing lines and circles that help friends or clients understand what you're doing on your machine or theirs.
Remote access apps also let you transfer files between two machines without using email or file-sharing services. You can use remote access to print a file stored on someone else's machine on a printer connected to your own machine. Your tech-challenged relatives can use remote access software to give you access to their machine so you can repair their mistakes or clear out malware. It's far, far easier to grab the wheel yourself than it is to try and talk someone through the process of troubleshooting their PC. And your high-tech colleagues can use it to collaborate on complex projects in real-time, complete with chat via text or, with some apps, voice.
Not Just for Help Desks![]()
Corporate help desks are major users of remote access software, but these apps can be useful for anyone. I personally use it for three reasons: First, I can give tech support to friends by logging in to their machine, without going out to make a house call. Second, while on the road, I can connect to my home or office machine and find and view an ancient file that I haven't stored on a file-sharing service like Dropbox or Google Drive. Third, I can invite friends or colleagues to join me in editing documents in a more straightforward way, with easier communication than other online collaboration methods, such as the real-time editing features in Office 365 or Google Docs. You may have very different reasons for wanting a remote access than I do, but there's no doubt that they are quite handy.
I looked at five remote access apps that work easily between any machines running either Windows or macOS anywhere in the world. In addition to these third-party apps, Microsoft provides its free Microsoft Remote Desktop software that lets you access Windows PCs from other Windows machines, mobile devices, or a Mac, but not from Windows to a Mac. Microsoft's app lets you access any Windows version going back to Windows 7, except for 'Starter' and 'Home' versions, for which you'll need a third-party app. Apple offers its $79.99 Apple Remote Desktop app for accessing other Macs onlyâbut that only connects to Macs running OS X versions 10.8 Mountain Lion or later.
I use Microsoft Remote Desktop from my Mac laptop when I want to run a program on a Windows desktop in another room in the same house, but only a full-fledged third-party remote access app lets me take full control of any machine anywhereâif the machine's owner wants to let me in.
Security Concerns
One of the first questions you may ask yourself when considering using remote access software is whether or not this is secure. If you've been using a PC for a while, you may remember pcAnywhere, which used to be the remote access software that was almost everyone's first choice. Symantec bought pcAnywhere from its original developer and eventually, after some major security breaches, stopped supporting it in 2014 and recommended that customers stop using it.
Some other remote access vendors have reported security breaches, but these seem to have been triggered by users who chose the same passwords for their remote access software that they used at hack websitesâalways a bad idea. Some remote access apps let you use relatively weak security if you choose, but they all encourage you to choose strong security, and our Editors' Choice products, GoToMyPC and TeamViewer, won't let you make an end-run around their security precautions.
What Remote Access Software Offers
We tested remote access software by installing each app or service on four machines: desktops running Windows 10 and Windows 7, a laptop running Windows 7, and a Mac laptop running macOS. We also installed each vendor's iOS-based mobile-access app for connecting to a Windows or Mac machine, though I wouldn't want to try running my desktop machine from a phone or small-screen tablet unless I were desperate.
All the remote access apps we tested provide the same basic features. They offer remote access to another machine that has the app's server software already installed; remote access can take the form of full control over the other system or mere passive viewing. All feature a shared clipboard (in some cases optional), so that text or images that you copy to the clipboard on one machine can be pasted into the other. All have a text-based chat feature. Each app provides file-transfer features via a standard two-pane file manager interface.
GoToMyPC and LogMeIn add the ability to drag and drop files between the local desktop and the viewer window that displays the desktop of the remote machine, but this feature works only when connecting to and from Windows computers. TeamViewer has a FileBox window into which you can drag files that will be accessible to both machines. LogMeIn, TeamViewer, and VNC Connect include whiteboard features for drawing lines in the viewer. For more on each remote access apps individual features, see the individual reviews, which are linked to below.
Which Remote Access App Fits You Best?
We focused on remote access software designed mostly for one-to-one connections, though it's possible with all these apps for more than one user to log in to a remote machine. If you're looking for advanced conferencing features like a whiteboard, you should probably look elsewhere, though LogMeIn includes a whiteboard feature that makes it work well as a basic collaboration app.
The vendors of some of the remote access apps we tested also offer a specialized video conferencing app that uses an interface similar to the remote access versions. For example, GoToMeeting is a conferencing version of GoToMyPC; Splashtop Business Access offers Splashtop Classroom; and TeamViewer offers Blizz.
Security features differ markedly among these apps. Some make it possible to provide access in a straightforward way if you choose to do so. Others require you type in passwords more than once and provide email verification before you can do anything useful. All let you customize security to varying degrees, and you should take a close look at the options that you'll feel comfortable using.
If you're a complete hermit who never leaves the room, you don't need remote access software. But if you often find yourself as the de facto IT tech for family and colleagues, or if you need to connect to other computers for your business, or if you need to connect to your own computers while you're on the road, then you'll need remote access software. Check out our reviews to find the one that best suits your needs.
Best Remote Access Software Featured in This Roundup:
When youâre running a business, the last thing you want to deal with is another dropped call or bad connection. Especially in this day and age, when chances are the key members of your staff, partners, and even investors may not be in the same country, let alone the same room. Shouldnât simple communication be the last thing on your mind?
To learn which software is actually helping startup teams stay organized, I asked a panel of entrepreneurs:
What software do you use that helps you schedule, coordinate and run your meetings more smoothly?
Hereâs what they said:
1. Minitmeet.com
Minitmeet takes a new and clever approach to producing professional-looking meeting minutes. Using it has been a very pleasant experience.
â Hassan Bawab, Magic Logix
2. Speek
We have a mostly remote workforce, so teleconferences are essential. We use Speek to host our calls, which is really great because it has the ability to call your phone to start the meeting.
This eliminates the need to remember PIN codes or other legacy telecall frustrations. It also keeps some really interesting stats for each call, such as the percentage of the time each person spoke.
â Patrick Conley, Automation Heroes
3. Infinite Conferencing
When I use Infinite Conferencing, I can conduct a meeting with as many as 1,000 attendees. It comes with high-quality audio and video and helps me manage my meetings so they go more smoothly.
â Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
4. Timer+
Meetings should never be longer than they have to be. Impromptu meetings should last as long as they need to, but for scheduled meetings, a clear agenda and the Timer+ app are essential.
Once time is up, thatâs it. That way, agenda-setters are accountable for covering everything thatâs important while soliciting feedback, and participants know that time wonât spill over and continue to interrupt real work from happening.
â Danny Wong, Blank Label
5. GoToMeeting
We use GoToMeeting as an all-in-one tool for meetings, and it hasnât failed us once. Uptime is the most important factor for us, and all other solutions have crashed at some point during a meeting.
â Kevin Lenane, Veenome
6. Join.me
Conference calling software in general is just plain terrible. It can waste precious time at the start of the call just setting the call up properly.
I love join.me, which is a free service to quickly share your desktop. Itâs my backup in case I canât get other software to work properly. You can share your desktop with anyone via the browser in less than a minute.
â Eric Bahn, Hustle Con Media
7. Google Drive
Barton uses Google Drive extensively. Because we are a virtual company with all employees working in different locations, we are rarely ever in the same room together or even in the same state!
Our meetings run much more smoothly when we have a shared document in front of us thatâs being continually updated as we are having discussions and making decisions. Working in real time reduces mistakes, improves the odds that everything is covered and significantly reduces the number of back-and-forth emails of multiple versions that can happen with an offline document.
â Joe Barton
8. Google+ Hangouts
Meeting Minutes App For Windows
Weâve found nothing works as easily and reliably as looping remote team members in via Google+ Hangouts. Theyâre high quality, effective and (bonus!) totally free.
â Derek Flanzraich, Greatist
9. Cage
For creative meetings, our team relies heavily on Cage. Cage is a collaboration tool for designers. It allows you to put design up into Cage, and then others can review, leave feedback and assign tasks right on top of the design.
Itâs great for everyone to be on the shared dashboard and helps with a remote team or collaborating with someone who is out of the office.
â John Meyer, Lemon.ly
10. Skype
Skype is my go-to app for meetings. The virtual face-to-face contact makes communicating more effective, as tone of voice and facial expressions canât be conveyed via email or texts. It also gives my staff a sense of unity regarding teamwork because with Skype, we realize we are interacting with real people and not merely with a voice on a conference call.
With Skype, you are faced with your co-worker and must deal with conflicts as they come, rather than let yourself email or text words you might otherwise regret.
â Jay Wu, A Forever Recovery Best Free Meeting Minutes App For Mac
11. Trello
We have daily standups for our internal team, and I run them by quickly running through our Trelloboards. Weâve implemented their Card Aging feature so that we can see what cards arenât getting attention, as well as whatâs being worked on currently. We keep meetings under 10 minutes long, and having a landscape view of our tasks is crucial in keeping to those time lines.
â Derek Shanahan, Playerize
12. Less Meeting
Less Meeting makes it easy to set up meetings, clarify goals, take notes and assign next actions. Itâs a fusion between meeting and task management.
â Elizabeth Saunders, Real Life E® Best Free Meeting Minutes App For Macbook
Top image credit: TIM BRAKEMEIER/AFP/Getty Images
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