Review: 01 Communique I'm Oncall

Remote, hands-on technical support made simple thanks to an easy, web-based interface

Wherever you are, as long as you’re connected to the Internet, you can initiate remote technical support sessions using only a web browser.

With 01 Communique I'm Oncall, no software needs to be pre-installed at the remote end, so you can connect to new clients and take control of their PCs in moments.

To prepare a remote session, you can either create a pre-configured email containing an HTTP link or ask the user to input a code on your support web page, which can be customised with your own company logo.

Once you’ve connected, you get remote control and file transfer – and that’s it. Many features you might expect are absent.

The most noticeable omission is the lack of any integrated chat facility. If you don’t want to fight for control over a Notepad window, you’ll have to use the telephone or instant messaging to speak to your client.

Furthermore, it doesn’t come with any support tools, for example remote viewing of critical system information, such as running processes or system event logs. Instead, everything must be conducted via the remote-control session.

On the administration side there are plenty of configuration and customisation options.

You can edit the content of the automated user invitation email, create categories of support incidents and build up a database of clients to which you can attach notes and comments.

You can add multiple support technicians to your online team and search all current and previous incidents.

It’s all very quick and easy, but I’m Oncall is not without competition and is lacking in some areas. At $99 (approx £53)

per month, per seat, I’m Oncall works out about the same price as competitors such as Log Me In Rescue.

A free trial of I'm Oncall is available.

System requirements
Local system: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Server 2003
Internet Explorer 5.5 or later/Mozilla Firefox 1.
Remote system: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Server 2003