PC-Topp runs very reliably; systems have been running for years without intervention from outside. But in case of necessity - which means preventive action as well as debugging - it is important to have an efficient means of direct intervention.

Remote maintenance offers a convenient, safe and cost effective way of dealing with problems occurring with your PC-Topp installation.

It provides a high degree of speed and convenience as it allows accessing the customer's network whenever necessary, independently of the presence and cooperation of any of the customer's IT staff on site.

There are several options of establishing the necessary Internet connection.

Public Internet

There are remote control solutions for local installation as well as web based remote access services. We can work with any remote access software a customer chooses. Currently we use the software products listed below. (If a customer wants to work with a different software he has to provide it for us.)

Software for Local Installation

On both PCs involved (the computer you want to access and the computer you use to remote control the target PC) the same remote access software has to be installed, e.g.

• DameWare
• VNC

Web Based Services

Web services offer a safe and convenient way to remotely access a customer's network. They are fairly easy to set-up and use.

• LogMeIn
• TeamViewer

Keep in mind however that when using a web based service all data traffic will be done via the service provider's servers and thus can potentially be "seen" by him.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A VPN connection uses encryption and tunneling and is therefore very safe. Customers who have a VPN server can give us remote access this way.

We can connect to the customer's network with any VPN client software a customer may use, provided we get the necessary login data and - where required - an authentication token. Currently we work with:

• Cisco Client
• FortiClient
• SonicWall

Once the VPN connection is established we need a remote control solution like the ones mentioned under the heading "Public Internet" (e.g. DameWare, VNC, LogMeIn, or TeamViewer).

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol also allows remotely accessing a customer's network. It is safe and shipped with all versions of Microsoft Windows as of Windows XP so you don't have to buy additional software.

Nevertheless we advise against accessing the Service PC with RDP because when used incorrectly this method can lead to multiple parallel sessions which causes problems.

Public IP Address

Another way of establishing a remote connection to a customer's Service PC is to directly connect it to the Internet so that it has a public IP address. However we discourage this method because it is essentially unsafe.