Review: Remote Desktop Support Out Of The Box

During installation, administrators can integrate the Bomgar Box with Active Directory and LDAP. By pulling accounts from AD, administrators can quickly build group policies and assign them to support representatives. Administrators can create multiple groups and divide support staff based on their expertise and troubleshooting experience.

The appliance's main support features are managed by policies. Administrators can deactivate file transferring and even block support representatives from directly interacting with PCs. A view-only policy can prevent new technical support hires from messing up users' computers.

By restricting the first-tier support staff members' access, they will still be able to provide frontline services but will be prohibited from overstepping their duties. Senior support staff can receive outstanding cases that could not be handled by junior technicians.

Blocking file transfers can serve multiple purposes. For instance, support representatives are not able to download files from users' PCs with this feature turned off. According to Bomgar, this feature is often used by companies to restrict access to executive PCs. In addition to protecting data, blocking file transfers is useful when accessing networks at remote offices where security might be a concern.

The Bomgar appliance also supports session recording and can produce reports detailing every activity performed by technicians. Solution providers offering technical support services with this appliance can use session recordings to generate security reports and keep an eye on employees. The appliance also supports reverse viewing, which allows end users to see what the technician is viewing.

The user interface on Bomgar's client software creates separate tabs for every opened connection, eliminating confusion when working on multiple tickets. Tracking the queue becomes easier as well because technicians are able to manage statutes by separating tickets.

The Bomgar Box generates executables for every session, and users only need to download the file and run it. At the end of the session the file is automatically deleted and completely removed from the drive.

Competing vendors such as Citrix can only access PCs on the same LAN. These vendors require client plug-ins and special firewall configurations because the services only work through unique port settings. Moreover, some of the SaaS plug-ins allow PCs to generate inbound traffic, which forces administrators to set up port forwarding through firewalls.

Bomgar also provides an API that allows solution providers to create custom applications that integrate with the appliance. In addition, solution providers can use the API to pull information on a regular basis to generate custom reports.

Its ease of setup, deployment and management makes the Bomgar Box a compelling product for VARs that want to tap the vast revenue opportunities afforded by the technical support services arena.