It’s amazing to think about how much work and the types of work that are done remotely these days. Events in the past year accelerated the shift to remote working for a number of different companies and roles, and for many, it was not an easy transition. 

One industry that was already ahead of the game? IT support, which has been delivering help from afar to end users for many years. But if you haven’t had the opportunity to really leverage remote desktop support before, you might be surprised at the types of IT support tasks that can be done remotely. 

Here we take a look at what exactly remote desktop support is, as well as six times it can provide speedy and efficient resolution of issues to your business and employees, and boost security and productivity.  

What is Remote Desktop Support?

Remote desktop support occurs when an IT support person remotely accesses a computer or network with permission of the user for the purpose of maintaining systems, troubleshooting errors, or providing other fixes. This remote connectivity is enabled by the internet. 

Six Common Use Cases for Remote Desktop Support 

IT Asset Management

IT asset management, or IT inventory management, is a requirement for getting a clear picture of your IT environment, including your hardware and software assets. Having this accurate picture saves you money, enhances your security, and improves productivity. 

But managed manually and onsite, it can be a time- and people-consuming process. This responsibility of IT can instead be remotely supported by your IT service provider via automation. 

Patch Management

Patch management involves maintaining, managing, and securing the operating system and software applications on a computer. Patches include new features, bug fixes, vulnerability repairs, and other code changes released by the vendor (such as Microsoft). Keeping your operating systems and software current is critical for both productivity and security. 

Rather than deploying patches manually to individual computers, remote support can take a proactive approach, deploying patches to all of a business’ devices as soon as they become available. 

Antivirus Status Monitoring

This involves preventing, detecting, and eliminating software viruses and malicious software (trojans, adware, spyware, ransomware, and others) that can destroy your systems. Again, rather than the cumbersome process of managing antivirus software and tactics on individual devices, leveraging this remote capability is a systematic approach that serves to protect your entire organization. 

Setting Up New Users

When you have a new employee join the team, they’ll of course need their own computing equipment, access to systems, and so on. With remote desktop support, you won’t be required to have an IT person onsite take care of each new hire. Rather, you can use your IT service provider, who can get your employee up and running with all the necessary credentials, hardware and software from an entirely different location. 

Hardware Repairs

Believe it or not, if you have breakdowns of your physical technology components, an IT service provider with a robust remote desktop support offering, like AccountabilIT, can work with your hardware vendor to diagnose and repair issues. Many times, this doesn’t even have to be done onsite.

Reimaging and Troubleshooting

When an employee’s machine goes down or otherwise fails, they need to back online — fast. Remote desktop support can be used to troubleshoot the problem, and if no resolution can be found, the operating system can even be reset remotely (known as “reimaging”). 

What’s next? 

Don’t let system failures, service disruption or lack of maintenance disrupt your business. Get the help of AccountabilIT’s Service Desk, which becomes an extension of your existing support staff. We provide triage and resolution, and respond quickly with remote desktop support right when you need it. Contact us to learn more about which services might be right for your business.