NetworkStreaming's SupportDesk 9.1 appliance provides a direct line into problem Windows and Mac machines. It earns high marks for its flexibility in the remote-control sessions it allows and for the significant audit trail it leaves. On the downside, it does not support Linux machines.

Similar products, such as Citrix Systems' GoToMyPC and WebEx Communications' Support Center, or terminal services, such as VNC servers, are used to train, support, upgrade and provide remote work access. The SupportDesk 9.1 appliance is positioned very strongly for help-desk support.

Installed on a LAN, the SupportDesk 9.1 appliance is accessible via an Internet connection. Users open a browser session to a Web server running on the appliance. The informative pages on this Web server are customized easily to provide agent names, session numbers or agent groupings by specialty.

The server software running on SupportDesk analyzes a user's operating system and offers the appropriate Windows- or Mac-based client software. After invoking the software download, users can let another technical support or help-desk entity obtain a session on their machine. An agent can obtain various levels of control: full control over the screen, keyboard and mouse; view-only, in which the agent can see only the screen and chat with the user; or no control, if the customer refuses the connection. All sessions are encrypted with the Advanced Encryption Standard 256-bit key within the appliance.

DESKTOP REMOTE CONTROL SUPPORTDESK 9.1 NetworkStreaming

4.65

Price: Appliance starts at $3,700; $1,700 per SupportDesk representative. Pros: Very well-designed technical support/help desk screen sharing; supports Windows and Mac clients. Cons: Lacks Linux support. The breakdown Features 40% 5.0 Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional 4: Very good 3: Average 2: Below average 1: Subpar or not available Performance 20% 4.5 Management/administration 30% 4.5 Security 10% 4.0 TOTAL SCORE 4.65

Click to see: NetResults for SupportDesk 9.1

A big benefit of SupportDesk is its ability to allow more than one observer of a session. Multiple users could observe, with only one at a time having control of the session. Another benefit is its ability to recover from a remote (assisted user) session reboot. Also, more than one supportive session can be run concurrently by a technical support/help-desk agent. An agent can therefore serve multiple users at once. In reverse, this capability lets two agents work on the same user's machine.