Your business is very important to you; otherwise you wouldn’t be sacrificing the majority of your daily hours on it. You keep pushing and striving to improve it even if it means you have to cut down on your quality time – whether or not you have someone to share it with.

One reason people tend to work too much, or appear to spend too much time at the office, is because they do not have access to their business’ computers, data, and servers once they have left the premises. In other words, they have to be on-site if they are going to realize their financial dreams.

Of course, once cloud technology was introduced into the hosting environment, things became much easier. Data could be accessed from any- and everywhere, and there was no longer any need for anyone to be tethered to a desk at the office. The only problem was many small businesses and startups couldn’t afford to cough up the money to rent such kind of cloud accommodation for their data. They had barely setup their LAN and Wi-Fi network and thinking of the cloud was a little too daunting of a task for them.

So, what choices do they have? Well, if they can’t access the data from anywhere, the alternate route becomes accessing the computers that do.

This brings us to…

Remote Access Software

As can be grasped from the name, Remote Access Software enable users to access their devices remotely. If the internet connection is strong enough, the distance between user and device becomes negligible and allows for seamless operations.

The remote access software market is saturated with some of the best of them available for free. Yet, the leaders (by popularity) include the likes of Microsoft’s own Remote Desktop Connection which comes free with their operating systems, Google’s Chrome Remote Desktop which is an add-on to the browser and can be used to securely connect to a remote device for any amount of time – short or long, and TeamViewer which is deemed by many to be the king of the roost as it has cornered the lion’s share of the market.

How can Remote Access Software be applied in the Small Business Environment?

Using remote access software has its distinct advantages; some of which are:

• Remote Access: A business that runs a suite of remote access software enables its employees to work from anywhere in the world. As long as they have an internet connection and their recipient devices are online, they can work from anywhere. Whether it is catering to freelancers who aren’t expected to come into the office to granting access to a permanent staff member who is travelling but needs to work locally (on the business’ machines) these are the software to go for.
• No “Off” Days: The days when someone had to stay home and sleep in because of a snow day, for example, are gone. Come hell or high water – and as long as all employees are safe and sound – the business, with a little help from its remote access software, can still keep its doors open as its staff accesses its servers remotely. Of course, this is assuming the business itself hasn’t sustained any damages.
• Security: Although the small business will be sharing its devices and whatever lies beyond (the network, servers, etc.) that it has access to, remote access software ensure that only what is allowed can be accessed by the user and that no one else from outside can access any information that is being transmitted or transported because it encrypts it.
• Customer Satisfaction: Some businesses will need to reach out to their customers and show them a unique or specially designed feature that they can only experience by “stepping into the e-office.” Accounts can be created for the customers to access what could be a prototype of an application or full website before it is launched and they can play around with it to get a preliminary feel.
• On-Hand Support: The beauty of Remote Access Software is that it works both ways – the business can connect to a client’s computer too. This would be a great advantage in a scenario where the business has sold a website site or installed an application on a customer’s device. Should there be troubles during its operation the client can simply allow the business to access their device so they can get first-hand technical support.
• Customer Training: In a point that goes hand-in-hand with the previous one, a business can opt to train its customers on how to download, install, use, debug, fix, and even uninstall any of their apps or ware without having to step a foot out of their office. With remote access software, groups can share the same screen or device so everyone can see what is happening and thus creating an online classroom.

This list could go on but the points mentioned above are the most critical reasons a small business should own and use remote access software.