Remote Workforce - Solutions and Resources

Remote access is critical! As the situation with COVID-19 has progressed rapidly in our city and community EXP Technical has been working with our clients to provision remote workforce solutions that meet the needs of small and mid-size businesses. At the same time many software and cloud vendors are providing low or no cost solutions for businesses.

This is a quick guide to some of the solutions we have been discussing and implementing with our clients.

Remote Access & Remote Control

1. As a client of EXP Technical we can provide you remote control of the computers that are currently being monitored by EXP and it’s monitoring systems at no additional cost. Contact us today for more information
2. LogMeIn is providing low cost, no cost and reduce price contracts for GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar & GoToMyPC. They are calling them Emergency Remote Work Kits
3. Clients using Google Chrome can leverage Chrome Remote Desktop to remote control their office computers
4. Virtual Private Networks are the traditional, and still viable, remote access solutions for many business that have servers in their offices. Setup complexity varies based on the firewall vendor. Contact us if you need help setting up a VPN.
5. Microsoft Remote Desktop and Remote Desktop Services is a suite of remote access tools from Microsoft from simply remotely access to a PC all the way up to a full server farm or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. If you are looking for a long-term solution this might be worth the investment.

Audio, Video and Web Conferencing

1. As noted above LogMeIn’s Emergency Remote Work Kits include GoToMeeting, which can be used to host online meetings
2. Microsoft Teams
   1. Microsoft is now offering a 6 month “Freemium” version of Teams for those that don’t have it.
   2. For those that have Teams and want to get a dial in number added to their meetings, you can add an Audio Conferencing License for $4 p/user p/mth.
   3. For virtual internal staff meetings Teams supports up to 250 participants
   4. For those with Enterprise Plans, Teams can be used for “Live Events” for up to 10,000 attendees.
3. Zoom is free for 1 on 1 meetings. If you meet with 3 or more people, the free version limits your meeting to 40 minutes.
4. Google is making Enterprise features for Google Hangouts Meet available to all levels of G-Suite subscribers, including support large meetings and recording of meetings to Google Drive.

Cloud File Sharing

1. Office 365 includes OneDrive and SharePoint
2. Google G-Suite includes Google Drive
3. Egnyte Connect is a purpose built, highly secure solution allowing for cloud file sharing or Hybrid file sharing with synchronized data on premise and in the cloud
4. BIM 360 Design is the only cloud file sharing solution that support Autodesk Revit Work File Sharing.
5. There are many others including DropBox and Box that we can setup and support.

Cloud/VOIP Phone Systems

1. Microsoft 365 Business Voice or Microsoft Phone System is a fully functional phone system add-on for Teams that requires no on-premise infrastructure. We use this internally and have done several implementations
2. LogMeIn Jive is an easy to use VOIP phone system that now comes bundled with GoToMeeting as well.

If you need help with getting your business up and running temporarily or for the long term in this evolving situation, please call us. We are here to help.