Remote support has evolved considerably since the early days.  Firewalls, NATs, and various incompatibilities presented stumbling blocks, frustrating the customers.  Mature remote support products overcame these hurdles leading to very impressed customers.  More often than not, customers verbally express their surprise at how quick we are able to establish a ScreenConnect session-- from the point of the customer typing in a URL until full screen control, we often are connected in under 20 seconds.  I expect competitive products deliver nearly as solid experiences.

So who gets the credit?

In most cases, the remote support vendor. Whether it be intentional, or just overlooked, most remote support products plaster their branding throughout the user experience. Even when the vendor advertises "branding" and "customization", generally they find a few places to sneak in their company and/or product name. Just ask anyone who uses Bomgar how many times they've had to explain to a customer what the "Orange B" is for!

We have taken a bit of a hybrid approach with ScreenConnect. Admittedly, the "vanilla" ScreenConnect installation has a healthy display of our logo, our brand name, and even with a link back to our homepage. However, from the start, we have provided a very straight-forward customization panel in our administration area. This has led to some very "unique" installations, and in many cases we don't even recognize our own product!

We took customization a step further in 1.8. The Host and Guest Clients--the applications that run on the computers--are now able to be completely branded. Wherever we displayed "ScreenConnect" before, can be replaced with your company or service name. Check it out (image to the right)!

So what are the chances that this will happen-- The "mystery" as to which remote support software is used will generate more buzz for ScreenConnect than plastering our logo everywhere. We don't like our odds with this, but at least our customers will be happier with our own anonymity.