What is a remote support session?

A remote support session is a remote connection between a technician or operator (a Host) and a customer or client (Guest). The Host will create a remote support session via their CloudBridge site. From there, the Host will instruct the Guest how to join the session. The Guest may need to enter a code, select a session from a list, or check their email for an invitation link. Once both the Guest and Host have connected to the CloudBridge server, the remote support session begins.

Basic framework and usage examples

In a remote support session, the Host (Technician) will connect through your CloudBridge installation to a Guest (Customer) device.

Here is the basic process of creating and joining a support session:

1. Open up a browser and navigate to your CloudBridge site. Log in using your host username and password.
2. Create a support session on the host page.
3. Join the support session you have created.
4. Instruct your guest to navigate to your CloudBridge site. Depending on the type of support session you created, they may need to enter a code, select a session from a list, or check their email for a link to the session.
5. Wait for your guest to join the session.

Remote support sessions are most useful for ad-hoc sessions, as they are quick to join and no software is installed on either your or the Guest’s machines. When either the Guest or the Host exits the session, the session ends. Remote support sessions can also be used for persistent tasks; as long as the session is not ended by the Host or the Guest, the session will remain connected even if the machine reboots.

Creating your first support session

Open up a browser and log into your CloudBridge site. After authenticating, you can then access the CloudBridge Host page.

To create a new session, select the plus sign (+) beside the “Support” heading on the left-hand side of the page. You should see a “Create Support Session” pop-up appear.

In the “Create Support Session” dialog box, you can select from four different “join modes,” which dictate how a guest will join the session. For this example, we’re selecting the “Simple Code” join mode. This means that the guest will have to enter the name of the session into a code box on the guest page.

In our example, “Demo” will be the code the guest will enter on the guest page in order to join the session.

Once you’ve created the support session, it will appear as a list item on the Host page. Select the session, then choose the “Join” button in the lower panel of the host page to join your session.

A small panel, the Join Session dialog box, will then pop up with directions and screenshots to guide you in connecting to your session.

When you have connected to your session, the host client window will launch, and the Host page will update to show that you are now connected to your CloudBridge server.

Instructing your user to join your support session

The next step is to get your user (your “Guest”) to join the session, as well. Whether it’s by phone, email, IM, you will need to instruct your Guest how to join their side of the session.

As we saw when we created our session, Guests can join a session in several different ways: by simple code, by secure code, email invitation (disable in “Demo”), and from selecting a session that is published on the Guest page.

For our example, since we have created a session with the type “simple code,” we would tell the Guest to go to our CloudBridge site and enter the code “Demo” in the code box on the Guest page.

When the Guest has successfully connected to your session, you will be able to see their screen in the Host client. You can now commence your session and control your Guest’s screen.

To end your session, simply select the red “X” in the right-hand corner of the Host client. You will see a pop-up alert asking, “Would you like to end the session when this application closes?” If you don’t want to connect to this session again, select “Yes.” Otherwise, select “No,” and you will be able to reconnect to your session from the Host page at a later date.

Controlling your support session

In addition to controlling mouse and keyboard input, as the host you can use the features of the host client to assist you during your support sessions.

Popular features of the host client include:

• Reboot and Reconnect – force the guest’s computer to reboot. After a reboot, the guest’s machine will automatically reconnect to the session.
• Quality – Adjust the screen quality to improve session performance.
• Chat – Send a message to your guest.
• File Transfer – send and receive files to and from the guest’s machine

DEMO SITE (Coming Soon)

User: Demo

Password: Demo

Session Name: Demo