The central concept behind GoToAssist Express is Clientless remote support. This means a support provider can easily connect First Anniversary Product Review - Citrix GoToAssist Express
(02/18/10)

It has been one year since the official rollout of GoToAssist Express, the little sister of the venerable GoToAssist Corporate departmental help desk management suite and first cousin to GoToMyPC as well as GoToMeeting.

Targeting small software support providers, GoToAssist Express is designed to fill a commercial and functional niche between current entry level remote access products (GoToMyPC, LogMein, VNC, etc) and full blown enterprise level help desk systems (GoToAssist Corporate, Web Ex).

The Citrix "GoTo" family of connectivity products each target a different connectivity market segment. For $60/mo, GoToAssist Express supports desktop access to anyone, anywhere, any time as long as they have an Internet connection, without having to preinstall any software on the remote computer. For the same functionality, GoToMyPC would require separate $15-$20/mo license to be installed on each remote computer being accessed. In other words, a fundamental difference between GTAEx and GTMPC is it's one to many (in fact, any) connectivity model as opposed to GTMPC's any to one connectivity model.

Common GoToAssist Express/GoToMyPC features

o Remote desktop access sharing
o Remote keyboard control
o Transfer files to/from client
o Expert/client chat
o Remote diagnostic reports
o Remote reboot and reconnect

GoToAssist Express advantages over GoToMyPC and GoToAssist Corporate functions

o True clientless remote support - Quick connect to any Customer's computer
o Flexible client support session invitation options - access links and codes can be Emailed, instant messaged or phoned to Customers; GTAEx Customers can click the Email or IM link, or visit http://www.fastsupport.com/ and enter a session ID to accept join your support session
o Unattended access capability. The ability to access and maintain unattended client systems during off hours is a must have for some support organizations. As I understand it, this feature is currently only available in GTAEx, not Corporate
o Virtual licenses work from any internet connected computer. Corporate must be installed and configured on specific workstations or flash drives. GTAEx is completely Web based
o Lower cost. Corporate cost per license approaches $200 per technician. GTMPC licenses cost up to $20 per month per remote. GoToAssist Express licensing runs $60 per month and is not tied to a single workstation or technician. Rather the license is controlled using a single concurrent usage limit.
o The combination of Web based architecture and single concurrent usage licensing makes GTAEx a great choice for mobile consultants and organizations with multiple technicians not all needing concurrent access to clients.
o Designed for small shops, simpler to install and use than Corporate
o A single license supports up to eight concurrent remote assistance sessions. switch sessions by simply clicking a session thumbnail on the GTAEx toolbar
o Optional technician screen sharing (Customer view of technician screen)
o Features basic session logging and reports
o Ramping up Mac expert and client platform support partially complete and in process for functionality with Windows platforms.

GoToMyPC advantages (features missing in GoToAssist Express)

Several significant features available in the in the GoToMyPC toolbar are missing or less capable in GoToAssist Express. Since Express is being positioned as a higher end professional product relative to GoToMyPC, I would expect it to deliver equivalent or better functionality than GoToMyPC. Missing parts:
o Remote print - Print customer reports on technician printer
o Performance graph
o Side by Side Folder compare/transfer Assist version is bare bones basic by comparison)
o GoToMyPC can disable sleep mode
o Performance tuning - adjust Color quality, view performance history, performance tuning slide,
o Sound settings - sound off/on, quality, auto disable sound option, mute local speakers while in session
o Security Options - blank out screen while connected, lock host keyboard and mouse

GoToAssist Corporate advantages

o Designed for larger support organizations with many support technicians
o Team collaboration functionality (multi technicians on same support call)
o Support request input que management
o Session sharing and transfer between technicians
o Customer surveys
o Branded web site
o Session recording
o Centralized administration, monitoring and control of support activity
o Online support queue
o Multilanguage support
o Hipaa compliant

Top Beta Group product enhancement requests

o Small team support features - concurrent multi technician licensing, customer identity (for both attended and unattended computers), concurrent team access to a consolidated customer/computer lists,
o More robust file transfer functionality, equivalent or better than GoToMyPC
o Remote printing capability a la GoToMyPC
o Enhanced session logging reports
o Expanded Mac and Linux support

Bottom line

Its Clientless remote support model, streamlined interface, unattended login support, ability to run from any internet connected computer and mid pack pricing will make GoToAssist Express a viable alternative to competing products for many small support providers. While COL has been steadily refining and enhancing GoToAssist Express during its first year in commercial operation, there is plenty of room for improvement, primarily in the areas of small team capabilities and improving a number of features to operate on a par with GoToMyPC.

Availability

Thirty day evaluations are available //express.gotoassist.com.

Highly recommended.