Rocking the Remote...Assistance

In the last few months, I've been trying to find a suitable app for remotely assisting colleagues and clients.

After all, if an end-user is struggling to understand the solution and it's taking too much time, the best option is to remote into the machine to walk through the solution, step-by-step.

I Googled, searched on Reddit.

There were some good applications, sure.

But nothing stood out as being easy for the client to install.

And, when trying to help someone with a complex technical issue, saving time is everything.

A solopreneur or small business owner doesn't want to deal with a technical problem, as it takes them away from their Flow. Away from the work they want to be doing, their zone of genius.

Struggling to set up a remote assistance connection may exacerbate the situation.

They might get irritated and not want to continue with the solution.

As a former support agent for several of technical companies (Google, Apple, Dell), I've seen it happen many times.

But, in the process of helping a colleague with how to set up a contact list in Outlook, as well as how to create a video meeting and send an invitation using Zoom, I stumbled upon the perfect app.

Quick Assist by Microsoft.

Quick Assist is available in the Microsoft Store.

So, it's relatively easy for the end user to get to the Microsoft Store icon, then search for/install the program.

(If they don't already have it installed, that is.)

Then, for the helping person, generating a code and then sharing the code with the client.

But, you may ask...

What if the end-user is has a Mac, instead of a Windows PC?

Simple.

I use HelpWire instead.

HelpWire is a free remote assistance tool, and it can be utilized to assist clients on both macOS and Windows.

The HelpWire link is given to the client, and the client downloads/runs HelpWire Client to establish the connection.

It's a good thing to have a backup/multiple options, in case a tool or website goes down, as well.