Many businesses that we serve in Abbotsford and beyond have remote employees.
It’s become even more common since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are our favourite remote access tools, and some information about each.
VPN & Remote Desktop (Microsoft)
Good for:
people who have a desktop (NON LAPTOP) computer at the office
people who use server applications such as SAGE or QUICKBOOKS that are installed at the office
Requires:
VPN Firewall/ Gateway at the office
Windows 10 Professional at the office computer
Configuration
How it works:
You will use your own home computer or laptop, to remotely connect to the computer at your office desk.
You will click a VPN icon to make the secure connection
You will then click the RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) icon to start a remote control session of your desktop computer at the office.
It works as if you are sat at your computer
VPN only
Good for:
people who have a laptop computer and need to access files at the office
Not good for:
people who use server applications such as SAGE or QUICKBOOKS that are installed at the office
Requires:
VPN Firewall/Gateway at the office
Configuration
How it works:
You will use your laptop, to remotely connect to the office network
You will click a VPN icon to make the secure connection
It works as if you are sat at your computer
Chrome Remote Desktop
Good for:
people who have a laptop computer and need to access files at the office
people who use server applications such as SAGE or QUICKBOOKS that are installed at the office
Requires:
Chrome account
Chrome installed at both the home location and the office location
Configuration
How it works:
You will use your home computer with your Chrome account
You will connect to your Office computer
It works as if you are sat at your computer
If you don’t have a VPN capable firewall, Chrome Desktop may be your best bet to get connectivity remotely.
Team Viewer may also an option, but we haven’t gone into too much depth here; partly due to personal preference, but also because to use it in a company you need to buy a license to meet their terms and conditions.