Bomgar B200 Update Speeds Remote Support, Adds Mac Detail

The latest software revision (10.3) for the Bomgar B200 remote support appliance speeds access to support representatives and increases the amount of detail shown for Mac systems. A “click-to-chat” button that can be permanently installed on end user systems makes it possible to immediately chat with a remote support representative without first downloading the entire software component that enables remote keyboard-video-mouse sharing. Users with a basic procedural question can be quickly dealt with over chat instead of engaging in a longer, more involved full remote control session.By Cameron Sturdevant

The Bomgar B200 is a 1U (1.75-inch), rack-mountable system. The device is normally installed outside the firewall and serves as a broker of sorts between users and support representatives to facilitate remote technical support without permanently installing or preconfiguring software on the client system.

After navigating to the Bomgar support appliance, my test Mac client installed the remote support software. It was straightforward, but does require the user to interact with the system.

From the Mac client’s screen, the user has to initiate the session and subsequently provide permission to the support representative at each stage of the support experience. Bomgar is right to ask for permission to take action. Users are revealing their souls, and company data, to the support representative. By the way, the “panic button” is a bright red X, and hitting it immediately stops all interaction with the representative.

I tested the Bomgar 10.3 advanced features for Mac on a 15-inch MacBook Pro system. Here you see the Bomgar application running and a “permission to proceed” box on the screen.

Here is the support representative’s point of view. In this case, the representative software was installed on a Windows system. The client hardware and operating system summary detail is shown here.

Seen from the representative interface, a serviceable but not overly clear view of the client’s remote desktop is displayed. In my work with the Bomgar B200, the screen refreshes were quick and the mouse response was nimble across both Windows and Mac client systems.

One improvement in Version 10.3 is significantly more Mac detail provided in summary view for immediate access by the representative. Here you see information about the test MacBook Pro.

Bomgar provides a simple and customizable user exit survey.