LogMeIn GoToAssist Remote Support 3.5
A cloud-hosted support platform that’s perfect for SMBs seeking ease of use and low prices
“You don’t lose contact with the client if you need to reboot the remote system; the app reloads and the session resumes”
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪ PRICE Yearly plan, per technician/month, £32 exc VAT from gotoassist.com
If you’re looking for cloud-based remote support with minimal training requirements, it doesn’t get much easier than LogMeIn’s GoToAssist. Its simple cloud portal lets technicians fire up both on-demand and unattended support sessions in a jiffy.
The cost is easy to manage too: GoToAssist’s subscriptions allow you to pay for it on a rolling monthly basis, or save a bit of cash by signing up for a year or more. Even better, pricing is based on the number of technicians, with no limits on supported clients.
Along with remote-control services for Windows, Mac and Android devices, GoToAssist offers chat facilities, file transfer, clipboard sharing, basic diagnostics, session recording and collaborative sessions. As usual, you can’t connect to iOS devices, but you do get technician apps for mobiles, allowing your staff to provide remote support on the go.
Central to GoToAssist operations is the fastsupport.com website, where clients go to join a support session. When a technician starts a session in the portal, a unique nine-digit access code is created; this can then be emailed to a client who can start the session by entering the code at the website, or simply clicking on the provided link.
Once the connection is made, the Customer app keeps everything nice and clear: a small window pops up on the user’s desktop with four buttons enabling the user to stop screen sharing, start a chat, transfer files or end the session.
One clever feature of this app is that it runs as a service. This means you don’t lose contact with the client if you need to reboot the remote system; the app automatically reloads on startup and the session resumes. Only once the customer clicks to end the session does the app unload itself.
The technician’s window meanwhile presents a row of useful buttons across the top for accessing the various support tools. One feature we really like is the ability to have multiple sessions open, with multiple clients, in one interface. Just launch a new session from the same window and, when the client joins, an extra icon appears at the top left enabling you to swap back and forth between the two desktops
To enable unattended access, you simply need to install a small agent on each system; after this the system will appear in the main portal view for quick connection. Access security is handled by the Admin Center portal, which also provides direct access to any other LogMeIn apps you’ve purchased. For GoToAssist, you can create new technicians, set access permissions for file transfer and remote control, enable session recording and view activity reports. LogMeIn GoToAssist doesn’t support Linux, but we had no problem establishing both on-demand and unattended connections to macOS clients: the agent came in a DMG package which installed quickly and easily. We also tested the iOS technician app on our iPad. After we’d logged into our account, this allowed us to start on-demand sessions using a PIN, and access all unattended system assigned to our account. Pleasingly, the iOS technician app provides the same toolset as the Windows version and even supports collaborative sessions. You can join existing sessions with other technicians and invite others to join your sessions.
GoToAssist is ideal for SMBs that want an easily deployed cloud-hosted support solution – as long as you don’t need to connect to Linux systems. It’s very affordable, and the ability to run multiple support sessions in the same technician window is a stand-out feature for larger organisations.