Remote Working Options

Because of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak many businesses have adopted remote working solutions. There are a number of options to consider when looking at remote working, generally and also with respect to  Act! they are summarised below:

Remote Desktop Connection (RDP)

For individual use a remote desktop connection allows a ‘private tunnel’ to be created between two devices i.e. your remote PC and the office PC or server. It means you can take remote control of the office PC and drive it remotely as if you are in the office.

Using RDP connections does expose you to the risk of hacking and this is why they are often used in combination with a secure VPN such as SonicWall Nextender, Watchguard Firebox SSL and VMWare SSL VPN-Plus.

Because you are not actually transferring large amounts of data across the connection you do not need a very fast internet connection to use this option.

Remote Access and Control Software

Another option for individual use is to use purpose designed remote access and control software that is used by IT support teams. There are many remote access software applications on the market, we use software from Anydesk – click  here. We find Anydesk very fast, easy to use and cost effective, it can be setup for free for personal use.

The Anydesk connection is encrypted and can be configured with passwords to allow you to login remotely and take control of the remote PC.

Because you are not actually transferring large amounts of data across the connection you do not need a very fast internet connection to use this option.

Using a Hosted Desktop Soloution

A hosted desktop solution involves setting up a virtual server in a remote data centre which acts as your normal server but also allows each user to log in to a ‘virtual PC’. This obviously needs to be implemented by specialist providers but it does offer a number of benefits:

• Total flexibility of how and where you work
• Fully automated backups for peace of mind
• High level of contingency
• Can host all Windows applications such as Act!, Sage & MS Office
• Fully scalable

We work with  Your Office Anywhere

Act! CRM has more deployment options and combinations than any other CRM application on the market.

• Remote Databases

We have many clients who use remote Act! databases which are installed on laptops and synchronised to the main database. This is an effective solution if staff are equipped with laptops as Act! can be integrated with Outlook on the laptop. Any Act! addins that are used can work against the database because Act! is running in a Windows environment.

A remote Act! database can be configured to synchronise against an Act! database hosted by Swiftpage – see below.

• Act! Cloud CRM

Act! can be hosted on your webserver or hosted by Swiftpage on their secure Cloud environment. Choosing this approach means that Act! can accessed via a web browser on any PC.