7 Awesome Free Tools for Screen Sharing and Remote Access
Screen sharing means enabling one or more persons to view your screen as you work on it, and remote access is giving entry to other users on different computers in different places to not only see your screen, but make changes on it. Screen sharing and remote accessing have become extremely important in today’s world of business, commerce, or education, where all interactions are online, and there is barely any face to face contact.
Supposing you are in London, and your friend in the US needs some help in understanding how to work a program. Instead of trying to guide him through expensive phone calls or confusing chats, you can simply access his computer while sitting at your desk, and solve his problem even as he watches you do it and learns. Similarly, you don’t have to wait for someone from tech support to visit you if a software you purchased has stalled. They can peek into your system as long as you give them access, and show you how to work out your problem. You can even attend a training program or a seminar sitting at your home, with a blend of screen sharing and video conferencing.
If you have been missing out on the advantages of tele guiding because you don’t have an appropriate software, we bring you a list of seven great tools that can make screen sharing and remote accessing a piece of cake. And the best part, of course, is that they are all free!
1. Team Viewer
Team Viewer is a very effective remote access tool that can let you access any computer in any part of the world, even if it has firewalls. This is an extremely reliable tool, you don’t have to worry about losing connection while you work. Moreover, it is safe, so no frets about losing all your work in transmission. Team Viewer also has online collaboration features, enabling users to host web conferences and work together on documents. The only drawback this tool has is that it is a bit more complicated than most of the other tools discussed here, and may need some technical knowledge to master.
2. CrossLoop
If you are looking for a simpler tool that can help you to view other people’s screens and let them view yours, without unnecessary complications, CrossLoop is just the tool for you. Installing CrossLoop is as easy as 1, 2, 3, all you need to do is download the application and run the installer, without having to look through a lot of choices.
Once downloaded and installed, the app shows you a window with two tabs, one of which is for sharing your screen with others, and the other to make your screen viewable by other people. The large, well spaced fonts, and minimalistic buttons make it easy for even beginners to use this software.
3. Unyte Lyte
This tool is great for on to one sharing of desktop with users around the world. Unyte Lyte has a one click option that lets you invite contacts from your Yahoo Messenger chat list to view whatever application is currently running on your desktop. This tool, basically a Yahoo Messenger Plug-in, is very useful for web conferencing beyond official meetings, for a range of purposes such as reviewing homework, discovering new games which your friends like, sharing photos with your friends, working on a document together, demonstrating software, and giving power point presentations.
4. Yuuguu
Yuuguu is a very basic tool for sharing desktops and conferencing on the web, but it is quite effective in spite of its simplicity. It is essentially an instant messaging software, used frequently by people on MSN or AIM. It combines all your contacts on every one of your chat lists on major instant messaging networks. Yuuguu lets you host web conferences for up to 30 people with the single click. You can share your screen and let other participants take control over your mouse and keyboard remotely during a conference. The major drawback to this software is that only the host can share their screen, and there is no way to shift to another presenter in the middle of a conference.
5. SoonR
What makes SoonR unique as a remote access tool is that you can use it on almost any type of smartphone, such as Blackberry, iPhones, Android phones, and even Symbian phones, and of course, on tablets like the iPad as well. SoonR lets the user access more than forty different types of files directly on whatever device they are using, without needing to download the files.
SoonR, once it has been launched into your computer or smartphone, creates a folder in your device, allowing users to store files from the remote computer locally and to work on them while they are offline. When the user connects to the internet again, the files are automatically synced.
6. Secure VNC
Secure VNC is a completely free remote access tool, but remember that it is very basic, offers only simple functionalities, and can be prone to bugs. It is not a suitable tool for business users because of its lack of features and reliability, but if you are a home user with normal needs, you may finf Secure VNC satisfying all the requirements you have from a remote access tool. You get full access to the remote functionality of a remote PC through a desktop client application.
7. Windows Live Mesh
Formerly known as Foldershare, Windows Live Mesh can be installed on computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and any version of Mac OS X later than 10.5, but not on computers running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Home Server version 1, or on PowerPC-based Mac computers.
Windows Live Mesh lets you connect to your computers remotely, provided the PC you need to access your file from is online at the moment. In case you are working on several computers at once, it also lets you keep your files and documents synced on all of your computers. You can even sync your files with the cloud storage facility.
Did you find this list of Screen Sharing and remote Access softwares useful? Please let us know your experience with these or any other related softwares that you may have used.
