Jan
30
Review: I'm InTouch 7.2 – Yahoo! News UK
01 Communique supplied us with a couple of trial accounts for I'm InTouch, enabling us to evaluate its so-called Premium service. This adds central administration and remote power-on to the core remote control, chat and file transfer tools of the base product and, as such, is aimed at the business rather than ordinary home user.
To get started we logged onto the I'm InTouch web site using the credentials provided, then activated our licences, supplying user names and passwords to connect to each of our test desktops. For security the credentials are stored on the PC itself rather than the I'm InTouch server, and you can also assign a nickname to each computer to make them easier to identify.
That done, we simply followed the link provided to download client software onto the PCs we wanted to control, designated 'hosts' by the I'm InTouch people. This is fairly easy and there's support for all versions of Windows from 2000 onwards, including 32-bit and 64-bit versions of both Vista and Windows 7.
On the downside, the setup is a fairly lengthy process involving a great deal of code and requiring a lot of user input. Still, we managed to work our way through it all without any hiccups and, once installed, were able to connect to our hosts from the I'm InTouch web portal simply by selecting the computer we wanted. This we did either by typing its name or choosing from a list showing which of our hosts were online and ready to access.
There was no need to explicitly install any software on the controlling PC, although for full desktop access a Java applet will be downloaded. However, if Java isn't available or downloads are blocked you can opt to just transfer files or connect to Outlook on the remote PC instead (where available) to access email. You can also connect to a remote webcam, if configured.
We found the Outlook option very useful, especially when connecting from a smartphone with a limited display, giving us quick access to email without the need for local client software. We could also access our contacts and calendars, and configure the I'm InTouch host to email us when new messages were received. Not quite 'push' email, but a workable substitute nonetheless.
It's also worth noting that, as with most 'real' customers, our remote client PCs were located behind NAT protected firewalls, as were the systems used to control them. This can cause real problems with some remote control products, but not I'm InTouch where the initial connections are all outbound (brokered by the I'm InTouch communication server), so in most circumstances it just works, regardless of firewall or proxy server settings.
As for performance, some of our tests were done using PCs on the same local network while, for others, we connected to remote locations linked by broadband services. We also connected remotely over a 3G network and were impressed with the response, even with the limited bandwidth that gave us. The ability to switch between dual displays was really useful and it was easy to resize the desktop to suit the machine we were using. We also found it easy and quick to transfer files and print locally, without having to install extra drivers.
There were a few things we didn't like, not least the huge amount of client code we had to download and install onto the host PCs. This contrasts with other remote control programs, like TeamViewer, where the client takes just a few seconds to fetch and can simply be run rather than installed onto the host PC. As such we can't really see I'm InTouch being used for ad-hoc helpdesk or other support applications. Indeed the company has a separate product – I'm On Call – for that.
Similarly, although it's nice to be able to power up a remote desktop otherwise left switched off, there are a couple of pre-requisites. One is support for Wake-on-LAN on the target PC, the other the need for an always-on wake-up proxy on the remote network, adding to the cost and complexity of the solution.
Such concerns aside, we found I'm InTouch easy to use and a good performer. It does have its limitations and lots of competition, but is worth looking at by anyone needing to provide users with secure remote access to their desktops when out of the office.
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