3 Easy Steps to Providing Remote Tech Support

Solution providers looking to start a tech support business should look no further than the Bomgar Box. This is a one-stop tech support powerhouse that outperforms all of its Software-as-a-Service competitors. The Bomgar Box can provide on-site service to remote PCs without requiring a solution provider to travel to a remote site, install VPNs or even bypass firewall settings on a corporate site. Bomgar claims that the appliance pays for itself after two years. After that, it's all profit for VARs.

In addition to its compelling business model, the appliance is feature-rich and highly configurable. It only took half an hour for Channel Test Center engineers to set it up. Here's what they found:

Step 1: Installation

When engineers first received the Bomgar appliance back in March, the company had just released a new version, so the new documentation did not match the user interface (UI) on the old appliance. Engineers had to work briefly with tech support to upload a new software patch to make the server work. That experience helped engineers see how easy it was to change the box's configuration settings and navigate its administrative interface. Fortunately, solution providers do not have to go through this process manually since Bomgar provides all the active settings and latest features pre-built into the appliances, along with access to regular updates. Solution providers only need to login and update the software once they receive the appliance.

The Bomgar appliance has an administrative URL with the starting address http://169.154.1.1/appliance. To connect quickly to the appliance, change the IP address of a PC or notebook to 169.154.1.2 with a subnet of 255.255.0.0.

After connecting, the first step in setting up the appliance is to change default network configurations. Bomgar provides IP, DNS and custom port settings for HTTP and HTTPS that can be used to bypass firewall settings. The default Web ports 80 and 443 will suffice in most implementations. Installing the appliance in the firewall most likely will require port-forwarding settings changed at the router or firewall. NAT routing might be required as well.

Engineers installed inside a cable router/firewall and changed all network settings to the usual static Class C IP range provided by the router, along with the appropriate port-forwarding turned on. The box also provides static IP routing, which is useful when establishing connections between two disparate networks.

NEXT: Adding customization