…and answers are archived and available to all of the company's users. This way, problems that are commonly encountered can be solved once by support personnel and the solutions accessed by subsequent users without having to tie up a support person's time.
An advantage of the Web-based assistance model is that it's not necessary for an email or IM program to be installed on the user's client computer, and it can be used in an environment where IM and email protocols are blocked by the firewall.
Microsoft Remote Assistance
For those users running Windows XP (and, once it's released and rolled out, Windows Vista), the built-in Remote Assistance application can be used to request and get help. The user can initiate the help session by inviting a support technician to help.
This is a big step up from telephone, email/IM or Web-based assistance because the support technician can see the computer screen of the remote user and (with the user's permission) take control of the remote computer and perform tasks on it to fix the problem or visually demonstrate to the user how to do so.
Windows Remote Assistance creates an encrypted connection between the support person's computer and the user's computer. The helper must have a password provided by the remote user in order to make the connection; this prevents unauthorised persons from exploiting the feature to take over others' computers. See Microsoft's Web site for more information about using Remote Assistance in Windows XP.
In Windows Vista, the helper can respond to requests from the user's computer for administrative credentials when these are needed to perform necessary tasks. However, the user must give permission for the helper to do this, and the user can give that permission only if he/she has administrative privileges.
It's also interesting to note that Remote Assistance in Windows XP (and Server 2003) supports voice communications, but the version in Vista does not.
To connect to a computer remotely and fix problems when the user is not there, support personnel can use the XP or Vista Remote Desktop feature, so long as that feature has been enabled (it is disabled by default) and they know the user name and password for a user who has been authorised to connect remotely. With Remote Assistance, both the user at the remote computer and the helper can see the user's screen. With remote desktop, the desktop is not visible at the local computer when a remote user is connected to it.
In an enterprise environment where Windows domains are implemented, you can configure a remote-assistance policy to allow tech support personnel to initiate a help session by sending an offer to the user. This means the user doesn't have to know how to invite the technician in order to get help. The feature is turned on by using Group Policy (it's off by default). For information on how to change this policy setting, see Knowledge Base article 308013 on Microsoft's Web site.
Remote assistance for non-XP/Vista operating systems
If your users aren't running Windows XP or Vista, there is no built-in remote-assistance feature. However, a number of third-party programs can provide remote-control functionality. For example:
Outsourcing remote-assistance services
Large organisations may find it more economical to outsource remote assistance services to an off-site help desk call centre or a company that will take over running your on-site help desk. These companies use tools similar to those described above. This eliminates the need to hire full-time help desk personnel and eases the load on your in-house IT department, making it easier to provide 24-hour coverage.
