With 70% of the global workforce now working from home at least once a week, the need for remote access solutions has never been greater. When you give people the chance to access data from home, they’ll be able to ensure they can be productive wherever they are. The only problem is that you need to know that the toll you’re working with is going to give you what you need.
Here are four things to prioritize when it comes time to choose a tool.
1. Consider Usability
When you’re seeking out the right software for your remote team, you need something that’s simple to use and understand. If you’re spending hours training your staff on how to use a piece of software, it’s not going to be worth the time you invest. Add up the real costs of training and support so that you know you’re not overspending on time or resources for your remote control tools.
If you’re considering which tool to use, remember that not everyone on your team is going to be equally tech-savvy. The people who you choose to work with the tool need to be able to plug and play, so to speak, when it comes time to use it.
You also need to consider the speed of your tool. This comes into play when you’re talking about usability. A tool that leaves you hanging while you’re trying to load up a screen or login is going to be inherently harder to lean on for usability.
You need an all-in-one tool that gives you the features you need with support on top. You shouldn’t have to buy some pricey support package to supplement the lack of support your tool offers. Any company that stood behind its tools would offer lots of tech support included with the cost of a product.
2. It Needs to Be Secure
When you’re seeking out a tool to help build your company’s remote team, you need to find one that’s secure and stable. A tool that offers remote support should be able to offer protection for all the data you store on it. If your team is working on building a proprietary product that you don’t want your competitors to find out about, you need to keep information safe.
If your competitors can tap into your data easily, they could steal precious company secrets or customer information. If they find out who you’re working with or how you’re to get an edge on them, you’re going to put yourself in a position to lose hard-won advantages. Those advantages that you’ve worked hard to get could end up being for nothing if you don’t pay attention to the security of your tool.
Your tool should offer data encryption at both ends of the data transfer process.
Most remote desktop solutions offer security but sometimes you need to go deep into the settings to get the best protection. There should be protection for you right out of the box.
A truly secure tool is going to be used by those companies who you trust to follow industry standards. It’s going to be used by people at every level of every industry because it’s just that flexible. You should also have lots of geographically dispersed servers to keep connections stable and secure no matter where you are.
3. Compliance Matters
As in most industries, there are levels and standards of compliance that keep the best companies at the top of the heap. When you follow these standards of compliance, you ensure that people can trust that you have what it takes to protect their data. While they might not look too much into what you do to get the job done, if you can prove you’ve complied to standards, you can ensure you’re trusted.
One of the best ways to ensure that you and your customers are protected is to implement two-factor authentication. While this might seem like a pain in the neck to your staff at first, it’s a great way to keep out any hackers using brute force or other types of cyber attacks. By putting down a layer of security following the initial login, you created a time-based window to keep out any bad actors.
If you’re working in the healthcare industry, you know all about compliance and its pitfalls. Failing to comply to HIPAA standards could land you will all kinds of fines and fees that end up bankrupting your company. If you’re not prepared to protect private data and information that you’re trusted with, then you shouldn’t be sending it over a remote access tool.
Make sure that the tool that you use is up to the standards that you need it to be.
4. Customer Support Matters
While it’s been alluded to above, you really need to make sure you prioritize customer support when you list your must-have qualities in a piece of software. It’s vital for you to have the support you need during crunch time. When your staff hits a wall, you can’t have a whole day of productivity send down the drain just because you couldn’t get the help you needed.
Large software companies might give you more options but not be able to offer the personal touch you need. It’s vital for you to balance out the types of support you can get with the quality. Not being able to get the kind of support that leads to really solving problems means you’ll be wasting your time and end up being more frustrated.
Make sure that your conversations are also documented so that you’re never starting from scratch when you call about a problem twice.
See what Netop Remote Control has to say about support when you’re making your decisions.
Remote Access Tools Bring You Closer to Work
Even when you can’t be at the office, you need remote access for all sorts of reasons. Whether you’re trying to hire freelancers around the globe or you’re trying to stay on top of big projects while on vacation, remote access matters.
If you need a refresher on cybersecurity at the office, check out our guide for tips.
