A multimedia on-line assistance system with safe remote control of applications

This paper tackles the problem of efficiently helping software end users. Assistance to end users has become increasingly critical to the productivity of organizations. The cost of a person or a group of people that provides assistance is substantial. Besides, safety and confidentiality of end-user information are often compromised when assistance is provided. Remote assistance using remote control and visualization software is one of the means to efficiently provide assistance to end users. Several software systems have been proposed to take the control of remote computers and applications, but few of them take into account human aspects and guarantee security and confidentiality of information. Consideration of these elements is necessary for practical remote resolution of problems. Using concepts from the field of groupware and remote control of computers, we have devised software to provide remote assistance to end users while insuring security and confidentiality of information as well as providing the tools required for natural human interaction. This paper presents our software.