Giving Users Remote Access to ServiceCEO

By Derek Gilmore

As VP of engineering at Insight Direct, I often get asked what is the best way to provide remote users access to ServiceCEO. My answer depends upon what you are trying to do with ServiceCEO. If you want to allow field technicians access to the product, we often recommend setting up Mobile Tech on a web server. For a complete listing of Mobile Tech's feature check out: Mobile Tech Features

On the other hand, if you want to provide full access to all the features of ServiceCEO, there are a couple of options depending upon your budget. If you only have one remote user the best option is to use a tool like GoToMyPC or LogMeIn. Setting up these tools requires a PC be dedicated in the office to the remote user and that the office have a high speed internet connection like a DSL, Cable or T-1 line. These options are fast, easy and cheap.

For offices with several remote users, the best option is to set up Terminal Services and run ServiceCEO on the Terminal Server. Terminal Services is Microsoft's implementation of thin-client terminal server computing. With terminal services, only the user interface of an application is presented at the client PC. Any input to it is redirected over the network to the terminal server. With Terminal Services you connect to the server using Remote Desktop on your PC.

To set up and install Terminal Services we recommend working with a Microsoft Certified Engineer who has expertise setting up Terminal Services on a Windows 2003 or 2008 Server. Once the server is set up and configured you can install the ServiceCEO client on the Server. Like GoToMyPC or LogMeIn, your office will need to have a high speed internet connection like a DSL, Cable or T-1 line to use Terminal Services. For a complete overview of terminal services please read Expert Remote Connectivity with Terminal Services

In addition to running ServiceCEO on the Terminal Server you can run other applications such as Microsoft word, outlook and QuickBooks. The biggest benefit of terminal services is your entire office can be fully mobilized and accessed remotely.

Derek Gilmore is responsible for managing the Insight Direct Engineering, Customer Support and Quality Assurance teams. He has more than 10 years of expertise in translating clients' complex business problems into scalable, reusable and user-friendly technology solutions