businessinfomag.uk magazine 12 COLLABORATION TeamViewer is updating its popular remote access and support product, now called TeamViewer Remote, with improved security, new features and a more modern user interface. Introduced 17 years ago, TeamViewer’s core product is used every day by individuals and companies to remotely access, control, troubleshoot, repair, configure and monitor all kinds of IT devices. Since launch, the tool has been installed on 2.5 billion devices around the world by hundreds of millions of consumers, who use the free version to help friends and family with IT issues, as well as 625,000 SMB customers. The new version has its own product name for the first time, TeamViewer Remote, and a new look and feel that TeamViewer will be rolling out to other solutions in its portfolio. There are also major enhancements to the underlying technology stack, which is now web-first, with a new security layer and a more open infrastructure that enables closer integration with third party solutions and other TeamViewer products. Dr.Hendrik Witt, Chief Product Officer at TeamViewer, said: “Everyone knows that you can use our product to take remote control of a PC, but we've been investing quite a lot over the past years to support use cases that are beyond traditional PCs and laptops, such as embedded systems, for example in digital billboards.” He added that TeamViewer will continue to add capabilities in new areas to meet the needs of the service desk of the future, citing the example of ‘limited control methodologies’ where you might take control of a specific application or support a workflow to give support providers the right information at the right time so that they can solve technology issues more effectively. Enhanced support “I'm a big believer in data and artificial intelligence and you can expect TeamViewer very soon to integrate AI capabilities into their products to help Service Desk employees to work smarter,” Dr Witt said. What’s new What, then, are some of the key features in TeamViewer Remote that will support future plans and help current users operate more efficiently and securely? n Mandatory user accounts. In line with standard practice in the software industry, remote support providers who use the free version of TeamViewer Remote must now, for the first time, have a user account. This doesn’t apply to those receiving support. Again, in line with industry practice, TeamViewer enables log-in with an existing third party account (e.g. Microsoft or Google). n Web client. Because of its webfirst architecture, TeamViewer Remote can now be used straight from a browser. “We will keep the download client that we currently have, but we will also give people the choice to use a web client that you don't need to install. You just go on the website and access your product from there. No matter which route you take, the user interface will look the same,” explained Dr Witt. n 1-click sessions. TeamViewer is introducing 1-click connections to support sessions, like the invitations used by Microsoft Teams or Zoom, with the ability to copy and share the URL by WhatsApp, for example. “Everything will continue to be highly secure. Links, for example, can only be used once and will automatically expire after a certain amount of time, if not used,” said Dr Witt. Again, users can continue to connect using the established ID & password method if they prefer. n Transparency & visibility. TeamViewer has added two new features to reassure recipients of support that the person accessing their device is who they say they are. These are a visual representation of where the support provider is connecting from and the ability to view more details of that person, including their user account and email address. “If you've been talking over the phone to a support centre in Europe and you see somebody is connecting from the southern part of the United States, for example, you might be suspicious,” said Dr Witt. “And because we now have accounts, users can see the email address and the type of user account (commercial or free) of the person connecting. For example, if you're dealing with a professional business, you might expect them to be using a commercial licence.” n Integrations. TeamViewer Remote offers enhanced integration with TeamViewer’s wider product portfolio including the MCO management console, previously only accessible via a web browser, and the company’s remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool. “While the RMM product was perceived by many customers as fairly separate to our TeamViewer remote control and access tool, we’ve been merging these products under the hood of TeamViewer Remote, so with a commercial user licence, you can experience these products in the same space,” explained Dr Witt. TeamViewer Remote is available for download now. All existing users of the remote access and support solution can choose to upgrade their existing installation to TeamViewer Remote for free or log into the web client with their existing TeamViewer credentials. www.teamviewer.com TeamViewer updates remote support product to provide a more integrated experience Dr. Hendrik Witt
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