Need 2 Watch Dual Monitor Sessions with Software

[mdcr]

IT Manager here, and I need to have the ability to view other users' monitors remotely (and preferably without their knowledge). This is used when providing tech support to people throughout a large office, but it is sometimes done randomly to view activity, hence the no notification desire. We use GenControl/TightVNC viewer currently, but we also use dual and sometimes triple monitors, and the VNC viewer only shows us one screen with no ability to go to the other(s). Is there any software out there that will show all screens that anyone knows of??? Thanks in advance!

 

[ArizonaGeek]

UltraVNC will support dual monitors for sure. Three, not sure about. As far as secretly monitoring users, we don't do that so I can't recommend anything. I can tell you, you're probably better off recording websites at the firewall, email at the Exchange server and IMs via a recordable source. We use Omnipod by Messagelabs that pretty much covers your bases and won't piss off your co-workers or employees. It is far less intrusive. Watching someone work, even if it is legit, is a bit creepy in my book.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[mdcr]

I will look into that...as well as Omnipod; right now we block IM and a lot of websites (and record them), but some users are determined to get around the blocks with new proxies and software that we can only react to, not proactively block. An example is Gmail that shows up on their report as constantly being accessed, but they say 'it automatically refreshes so that's why it shows up all the time' - we want to be able to know that they're actively using it. or, a user has downloaded software out of the office onto their work laptop that will access Myspace or other social sites. Once we find out, they're done, but it can take some time to verify that they're intentionally using it instead of them playing dumb (not really an excuse - we tell them that they are responsible for anything on that machine)...we do agree; the less intrusive the better...

 

[wayneryeven]

Just my two cents worth here...i recall reading an interesting news article surrounding what you are doing in an IT journal last year. It stated that remote connection software can breach the employees rights, and that if there is dismissal or disciplinary action as a result of monitong their screen this can be called into account in a court of law.

It is perhaps worth persuing the official line on this before you start. The way we manage in "here" is that we use UltraVNC with the connection dialog turned on and the default being Accept after 10 seconds. The user sees this when a connection is attempted, if they dont click agree then it auto connects.

We then include this remote software in a user acceptance policy that they get a copy of and sign.

It is also stated in a usgae policy they must agree to everytime they log onto their PC. That covers us legally as the user has agreed that IT will at times have to connect to their PC remotely.

On top of that continue the logging at proxy. If users are persistent you will find a course of disciplinary action against one tends to do the trick.

As i said just my two cents worth but maybe something worth bearing in mind.