One of the positive aspects of the Covid-19 lockdown experience was to make the world aware of how much can be done from a distance, without physically being present at a place of work. While some of these perceived advantages have now been exposed as misleading or the result of over-generous thinking, others have established themselves as valid practices in the present and perhaps the way of the future.
One such success was remote IT support. The concept of having someone working on your IT system remotely has been around for some years, but was not picked up as enthusiastically as it might have been. After all, the idea that doing some work meant going to work first has been unchallenged since the very idea of working for a living was first thought of by some enterprising individual.
Despite revolutions such as telecommunications, which meant that help, advice and instructions could be relayed from a distance, the method was not generally trusted. Even today, we have the notion of “phoning it in”, meaning that someone was not giving their all to the job but making a token contribution.
Now, though, it is accepted that some things can be done remotely with great efficiency, and as far as remote IT support is concerned, there are benefits including the speed of response (much quicker than sending for someone who is not normally based on your premises), the corresponding reduction in downtime and increased security, because IT systems are notoriously – and increasingly – vulnerable to offsite skulduggery enabled by the need for everybody to be online. When cybercriminals can access your site from the other side of the world, it makes sense for your protectors to have the same ability.
Cybercriminals have progressed from phishing – tempting individuals and companies to give away sensitive information such as bank details and passwords by responding to messages asking for them – to the insidiously named social engineering. This is a form of emotional manipulation in which the attacker softens up the victim by building trust through communication and then abusing that trust.
The name Nerds 2 You spells it out up to a point; we operate from somewhere else, but can be called in to help our clients with IT issues, meaning you don’t need to have an in-house team on your payroll to do that.
Increasingly, though, we are carrying out our work remotely. That means we are on the case in a flash, not stuck in traffic when our skills are needed.
The Mechanics of Remote Support: How We Securely Connect to Your System
Clearly, anyone carrying out remote IT work must obtain permission from the owner/operator of the IT system before being able to access it. This is something that will be dealt with at an early stage in the discussions about remote support.
Given that permission, by the wonders of the internet, we can gain access to many areas of your system. Here we come to the issue of software-based or hardware-based help. If it is software only, we can only help if your device is switched on, whereas hardware access allows us greater scope to deal with different types of issues.
The Cost-Effectiveness of Remote Assistance vs. On-Site Call-Out Fees
Remote assistance involves an extra skill on top of the usual IT expertise, so there is a cost implication. Having said that, the need for travel is taken out of the equation, which is good for all concerned (and the environment). But perhaps the biggest saving is made through the sheer speed of the response. Depending on what the issue is, you could be losing money in dribs and drabs or hand over fist. The quicker we resolve the issue for you, the sooner you can get back to normal.
We work with clients to come to the best possible solution and the most cost-effective option for their particular requirements.
What Cannot be Fixed Remotely? Knowing When a Technician Needs to Attend
There is much more that can be done than cannot be done, but there are limits. Physical hardware failures need a physical response in terms of either fixing or replacing them. A dead modem or router, for instance, needs to be replaced, and with speeds improving all the time, they are expendable. What we can do in this sort of case is get one to you or tell you what you need, so you can nip to the nearest computer store, buy one and connect it yourself. These things are simple enough, and the part we play is in diagnosing the problem, which is often the crucial part.
Start-up issues, such as a black screen, can also need a hands-on look by our technicians, but many perceived “problems” just need the online scrutiny of a trained mind. A useful tip is to try the simple things first, and this means checking that the device is plugged in, charged up (if appropriate), and switched on. Is your WI-FI defective, or is there a general outage in your area? Sometimes clients get worried about nothing, so it is always good to check the basics.
Empowering the User: Remote Training and Support for Software Applications
In addition to the simple checks suggested above, another aspect of our remote services is training. If you are using a new application that seems hard to master, we can talk you through it and monitor what you’re doing as if we were sitting next to you. Similarly, if you have a new staff member who needs to be trained up, we can take that responsibility off your shoulders.
Remote working may not be the way forward for certain jobs and industries, but in the IT world, the benefits of remote support are indisputable. For many businesses, generating leads and finding clients is all done online, as is delivering their services and getting physical products taken to customers by companies that still operate in the physical world. Remote IT support is very much the name of the game today. Contact us for expert software support and remote assistance.
