Kristy in Columbia, MD asks:
“Our outsourced IT vendor wants to install remote access on our computers. I’m hesitant to grant this kind of access, but realize there are advantages to it. What are your thoughts on the subject?”
Kristy, you are wise to be cautious, but remote access has far more benefits than disadvantages. First and foremost, you must ensure that the vendor you are empowering with this type of control is trustworthy and knowledgeable in information technology techniques and practices.
Allowing a vendor to have remote control of your computers and/or telephones will save you time, money and aggravation. Service fees often include a travel charge that allows a vendor to recoup money spent on fuel, parking fees, tolls and the time a technician is travelling to a job site. Remote access eliminates this part of the fee altogether. For some companies, the hourly rate clock starts ticking as soon as the tech begins the drive to your office and that can add dollars to the service fee as well.
Another benefit is reducing downtime. If your vendor does not need to wait until your doors are open to start working on your system, updates and repairs can be made in the early morning or in the evening when there are few or no workers present who may have their day disrupted by system work being done during RBH.
Remote access will often include automatic system alarms that will notify the IT vendor if a connection is lost or another type of problem is occurring. Some of these issues can be resolved before the customer is even aware there was a problem!
We have had situations where a customer’s system is having an issue, but all of our techs are out on job sites. If we can get a tech to momentarily step away, log in remotely and fix the problem, they can get back to their original job and everyone is happy.
In addition to making repairs and updating software, this is also a great teaching device. When a tech is able to access a pc and take control of the user’s mouse and other navigation devices, he can instruct the user visually on how to utilize certain programs and functions. We have found that showing a customer how to do something is much more effective than merely explaining it to them. If you have ever tried a service like GoToMeeting, you know how effective this “show and tell” method can be.
In certain circumstances, a degree of autonomy can be achieved with this option as well. A tech-savvy employee can be trained by your IT service provider to add new users, update software and make basic moves, adds and changes. If that employee gets in over their head, the tech can log in and assist or troubleshoot.
At Teltek, we encourage our customers to allow us remote access to their computers and phone systems. This permits our technicians to make repairs and upgrades faster and more effectively and our customer are very happy to trust us with their critical business technology.
For more information on remote access, call Teltek today!
Teltek is proud to offer IT services as the fourth component to our multi-systems approach as your single source technology services company. This Managed Service Provider (MSP) offering completes our longstanding goal to provide our clients with a one-call resource for all of their business technology needs. IT outsourcing, remote back up and disaster recovery, helpdesk support, computer network relocations, security products and server/desktop virtualization are just a few of the services we are pleased to provide.