LogMeIn Rescue Mobile out of Beta, and out of reach for consumers

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I know quite a few of us on the forum are users of LogMeIn.

Their wildly popular 'LogMeIn Free' product allows you to remote control an unlimited number of Macs/PCs quickly, easily, and from a number of devices including, most importantly, Pocket PCs. On a QVGA device it's usable, on a VGA device it's a treat. And at the price point, you can't go wrong! The beauty of LogMeIn Free is probably in it's simplicity. You run the install on the target device, and then that machine pops up in your LogMeIn account, ready for you to control when required. As a usage scenario, when I log in, I see my dad's PC, my in law's PCs, all my machines... and I can control then when needed for remote support, or whatever. Brilliant.

As well as the free products however, LogMeIn do of course have a line of commercial offerings. As well as a more advanced version (LogMeIn Pro) of the service mentioned above (which adds a whole bunch of features such as drag and drop, file transfer, remote sound etc), there is a product from called 'LogMeIn Rescue'.

What 'LogMeIn Rescue' (recently out of Beta) does is allows a 'technician' to use a LogMeIn supplied support console (that runs within your browser on a Windows PC), to manage the support of a range of devices in a more enterprise scenario.

In their own words...

LogMeIn Rescue is used by IT helpdesks to provide instant remote support to customers and employees. Gain control of a remote PC, Mac, or smartphone over the web in seconds, without the need to pre-install software.

And here's where it gets interesting for us - 'smartphone' support (which actually means Smartphone / Pocket PC support as we know it).

Imagine this, if you will. You are a company, with a number of Windows Mobile devices out in the field, when you get a call in that there is a problem with a device. Email won't sync, the business application you've rolled out keeps crashing, or whatever. What do you do? In the past, you would probably have to get the device sent in / rebuilt. 'LogMeIn Rescue Mobile' provides an alternative.

In this situation, the end user would either click the 'Rescue' icon on their device, or visit LogMeIn123.com. Upon doing so, they will be prompted for a PIN. This PIN is created by the support technician from their support console. Upon entering the PIN, the user is granting the technician permission to control the user's device. The technician would then, in their console, be able to remote control the device, transfer files to the device and much more. It is, in my opinion, the holy grail - true remote control support over-the-air of Windows Mobile devices. I've been using it since very early in the beta and it works GREAT! It even works on low-bandwidth GPRS!

There's only one thing that keeps the solution from being perfect for me, and that's the pricing. Of course, the core market is business users... and the system is priced as such, at $99 per technician per month (annual agreement) or $129 per technician per month (monthly agreement). Not cheap, but it IS powerful.

What I would love to see from LogMeIn is a cut down offering (offering remote control only), either cheap, or integrated into the 'Free' offering as other platforms are. To be able to support my WinMo owning family members this way would just be amazing :( Sadly, they've told me they have no such plans at this time :D

Anyhow, despite this caveat, LogMeIn Rescue Mobile is an awesome solution for any business seriously using Windows Mobile, and well worth a look. There's also an instant free trial, so you can give it a go just for fun!

Enjoy :D

P

[Guest mandt]

Looks impressive but OUCH at that price :(

[Guest herbal]

yea ouch, thats pretty expensive. IMO RDM+ is great and does the job

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

RDM+ doesn't let you remote to the device does it?

P

[Guest herbal]

u can remotly connect to your machines, it goes through firewalls/routers easily aswell. there are other great features like file transfer etc..if u havent tried it out i would suggest using their demo...im very happy with my purchase

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

No, you're missing the point... LogMeIn Rescue Mobile is for connecting to your DEVICE from your machine (i.e. the other way round).

I use LogMeIn Free for connecting to machines, which is fine.

P

[Guest herbal]

ooo my bad its for from pc to device not the other way around, ok now i can totally see your point. that would be very handy indeed, i guess the only question is $130 a month nifty or not

[Guest Beezer]

ooo my bad its for from pc to device not the other way around

Standard LogMeIn is great on WM as Paul said. I was using it only last night.

The way both standard LogmeIn and Microsoft RDP whizz a small PDA screen around a larger remote controlled 1024 x 768 canvas is a lesson in how IE should perhaps work a bit better with standard web pages! It's not like Microsoft can't do it as their remote control client is great (it has a small touch pad area in the bottom right you can use to move around the remote screen area).

If you are interested in Device to PC remote control LogMeIn is genuinely great. Can highly recommend. And best of all...

One thing Paul didn't tell you is that it's free in that opposite direction.

LogMeIn only tend to charge for really advanced stuff like PC to Device control.

[Guest Beezer]

...Actualy he did, but it was way back at the top of the thread!

[Guest GeoDim]

ooo my bad its for from pc to device not the other way around, ok now i can totally see your point. that would be very handy indeed, i guess the only question is $130 a month nifty or not

This product is not for single users. Of course it's not worth $130 a month to you, because you have no practical usage for something like this. This product is intended for helpdesks to support their clients and for cell carriers to support their customers. If you have no business to support, then this product is not for you.

[Guest mandt]

Not strictly true,

I have got a few friends and family now on the WM ship, and am always doing 'maintenance' on their devices. To be able to do this remotely would be very welcome indeed

I suspect a few more of us here would too, C'mon, give us a free 'Lite' version :(

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

My point exactly mandt :(

P

[Guest chucky.egg]

give us a free 'Lite' version

Yes please!

Edited January 9, 2008 by chucky.egg

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I've told the people at LMI to pass this topic onto the people that matter :D

Doesn't mean they will of course :(

P

[Guest bytesize]

Its been a while since the last post announcing LogMeIn Rescue being in beta.

Since then its really matured and it's now a fantastic program that I cannot be without. The only downside is the expensive licence fee.

If you want to do remote support with LogMeIn but don't want to pay money for a licence you might want to try pcmagical.com/newengineer/

These guys combine LogMeIn rescue with PayPal so you can charge customers by the minute for doing remote support with LogMeIn Rescue.

Its worth using this to try out the software before purchasing your own LogMeIn Rescue licence or if you want to run your own freelance tech support business.

Take care,

Dean

Edited November 3, 2008 by bytesize