Meeting the needs of your service customers is essential to running your business well-oiled, but what happens when your service customer demands attention from the other side of the planet? Sure, you can communicate all day by email or phone, but sometimes there's not much you can do without looking at the computer screen on the other end of the call.
This is where remote access tools like ISL Online come in. The saving grace of any and all IT departments, ISL gives technicians access to service customer workstations thousands of miles away, making it much easier to resolve issues on both sides.
Features
An intuitive remote access software package with many ways to connect and support service customers, ISL Online offers a number of unique features to better meet the needs of your IT department and loyal service customers. Basic tools include remote control, audio and video calls, file sharing and mail.
Once a remote session is activated, technicians are presented with a toolbar with quick click functions for things like screen sharing, requesting control of a service customer's machine, the option to transfer the session to another technician and a button to invite more participants to a session.
On the client side of the service, clients of the service can allow and reject remote connections (if unattended access is not given). File transfer permissions and storage locations can also be managed on the client side of the service, although a technician can also decide where to send the files.
Types of remote sessions
Technicians can start a remote session in multiple ways. The fastest and most efficient way to start remote access is to download ISL Light on the service technician's and customer's computers. By replying to a remote support request, technicians can start the application and produce a session code that is transmitted to the service client's machine. The moment the client of the service gives the permission, the remote session can start.
For unattended machines (service client machines that are automatically accessed by technicians), service clients must have the ISL AlwaysOn application installed (for Windows and Mac machines). Once installed, the technician simply needs to find the service client computer in the list of free ISL Light devices and click to start a remote session.
"ISL Online" is not just the name of the company's software package, but rather a remote access alternative for customers of the service, with the "Online" aspect of the name referring to the remote location of ISL (islonline.net), where customers of the service can enter the session. codes to allow remote access. While some users have complained about slower tools and extensions throughout a web session, it remains a viable alternative for service customers who choose not to install ISL Light on their machines.
And not to mention that the web portal is ridiculously simple to use, with options to sort AlwaysOn service customers into tailored sets and share permissions for other technicians.
Remote access can also be started via an invitation-only email with an attached session code that automatically downloads ISL Light to your service client's machine, as a live chat alternative that plants a button. chat instead that can be used to start a remote control. session.
Platforms
ISL's range of remote service tools are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux desktops, as well as iOS and Android devices. As mentioned, in order for a technician to access a service customer's desktop or mobile device, all the service customer needs to do is install ISL Light on their desktop or mobile device, or go to islonline.net to start a browser session.
Packages and rates
ISL Online offers multiple subscription options designed to meet the remote access needs of your business and your service customers. If you're new to the software and want to try it out, new subscribers can get a fifteen-day free trial at no cost.
At this level, subscribers receive all of the essential features of ISL Online, including remote desktop control, unattended access for service client machines, mobile device support, application customization, and maximum security. In truth, the only add-ons that aren't free for trial members are multiple sessions and premium phone support.
If you decide that ISL Online suits your business needs well, but your business footprint is quite small, you may want to opt for a pay-for-job plan. For €145 for five hundred minutes over a single year, the Pay Per Use plan includes all of the standard features of ISL Online's free plan, with multi-session streams billed per minute.
Do you estimate that your technical team needs frequent access to the service clients' workstations? A better subscription option might be Cloud Tier. For €469/year, your team unlocks a single license that can be renamed to match your company credentials.
The caveat here is that if you want multiple technicians to manage multiple remote sessions in unison, you will need to pay for a license for each technician. At €XNUMX per license, those ancillary license fees can add up fast.
Private life
ISL Online takes security seriously. For starters, each and every data transferred is handled with end-to-end AES 2 encryption, in addition to this 2-factor authentication (XNUMXFA), code signing, port filtering, user access management and a whitelist/blacklist for exactly what machines ISL Online techs are able to get into.
In addition to multiple other top-tier security features, the service customer's ISL AlwaysOn application is password-protected, and access to the initial session is only open to the technician who initiated the call in the first place.
Competition
There are a number of remote desktop applications on the market.
iDrive RemotePC provides access to up to ten Windows and Mac machines with costs starting at just €4/month and also includes file sharing from remote drives and machines, and even includes live video support.
Zoho Assist is another strong contender. With some of the strongest security features on the market and customization options as well as remote printing, there are plenty of free subscription options for anything your team might need, starting at €8/month for the Zoho Standard plan.
final verdict
ISL Online offers a number of powerful remote access tools, with multiple ways to support service customers across a huge variety of machines and platforms. As well as state-of-the-art security features and authorization tools for technicians and service customers, it's clear how much ISL values user data at every level.
While certain cloud license fees can be a bit steep (especially for small businesses), this is more than offset by the sheer number of tools, extensions, and add-ons that come with an ISL subscription.
For those new to the suite, there is also a great support team built in to assist you and your service customers to successfully integrate with ISL Online.
We've also pinpointed the best remote desktop software